


Red Flags

by WriterbyHeart



Category: The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith
Genre: Angst and Romance, Drama, F/M, Fantasy, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:42:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 69,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23796343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterbyHeart/pseuds/WriterbyHeart
Summary: Caught up in a whirlwind of secrets, desires, and blood, Bonnie falls prey to a new addiction in the form of a very thirsty vampire. "The only reason you're standing here right now is because of my blood! Otherwise I would have drained you completely dry! What we did isn't meant for humans!"
Relationships: Bonnie McCullough/Damon Salvatore
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	1. One Fateful Week

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I am new to this site but not new to fanfiction writing. I have been writing fanfics of the Vampire Diaries since 2012. I have this story posted on another fanfiction account as well, but I wanted to branch out and try some new platforms. I love the relationship between Bonnie and Damon in the books and exploring it under multiple different scenarios and circumstances is what I do best. Hope you enjoy!

It’s been a week since he did it. A week since everything changed between them. One fateful week where he since hasn’t been able to get enough.  
Blood trickled down her pale flesh as his aching fangs dug two new puncture wounds into the side of her neck. Her blood was toxic like a drug, and he was an addict. The pungent sweetness washed down his throat, leaving a trail of warmth that engulfed his cold heart. He hummed in delight, in desire, as he reached around her slight body and swiped at his wrist with his pocketknife. She knew the routine by now. This was his favorite position. She spun in his arms and pressed her back to his chest. She was eager and grabbed at his bleeding wrist, he couldn’t bring it up to her mouth quick enough. It wasn’t just his blood that she yearned for, this was her favorite part, and she knew it was his too. Her small plump lips clasped around his wrist, sealing an air-tight lock as she sucked. His blood rushed into her mouth and filled her. It didn’t taste all that good. It tasted as blood does, metal-like, but her body yearned for it. She had been comparing herself to an alcoholic lately. That stuff tasted putrid, like gasoline, but people who became addicted grew a tolerance and needed it. This was what things had come to, and just after the first time, which had been quite horrifying. Now she was a bloodoholic. Was it a problem? Most likely. But she didn’t care as his fangs penetrated her neck from behind.

A flood of pleasure took them both under, and Damon groaned loudly in her ear as his free arm tightened around her waist. His fingers dug into her hip, drawing her that much closer. She moaned into his wrist, helpless to the feeling that almost made her give at the knees for the 5th time this week. Her small, high pitched whimpers drove him wild and he had to tighten the mental death hold he had on his sanity. That was the hardest part, not wanting to tear into this fragile human like the wild beast he was. If it were vampire on vampire, he would’ve been able to let go, but that would be fatal for the tiny girl currently stained in a mix of their bloods. The sight would have been horrifying under any other circumstance. Maybe it still should have been. Instead, as he paused his frantic feeding and glanced down at her, frighteningly beautiful as she lapped away at his wrist, he felt nothing but lust. It grew with every swipe of her soft, pink tongue over his open wound, every gulp of her delicate throat taking him in. This admiration of her tranced him every time, but he always held it in. After all, this was only to take his mind off Elena, the angel-esque, blonde princess of his brother’s. But he couldn’t be pained with that at the moment, every fiber of him burned from the lashings of ecstasy.

His bloody tongue slipped out once more and swiped over the puncture wounds on her throat, sealing them. The pleasure-ridden girl in his arms whimpered at the loss of his wrist as he brought it to his own mouth and sealed it too. He could taste traces of her mouth, and the pheromones held in her saliva, as he licked. His eyes fell shut involuntarily as he dragged the taste out as long as he could, gliding his tongue slowly from end to end. A hunger swept over him, it had gotten stronger every time they’d done this. His eyes opened and darted to her mouth, smeared in his blood and completely careless to the fact. Her large brown eyes were fixed on his mouth, heavy lidded and longing. It would be so easy, he could just lean down and take up her lips. He could get more of that taste...her taste. Her luscious, intoxicating flavor. But he refused to take part in human pleasures. This arrangement was on his terms, and his terms were solely vampiric in nature.

Damon smirked, shifting his gaze between her sweet lips and seductive eyes. It was cute when she wanted him. Some twisted fantasy in the depths of his brain took satisfaction in seeing her like this; it wanted her to beg.

“Damon...” she breathed, twisting in his arms to face him again.

Hearing his name on her lips made him grind his teeth. It was as if she knew his weakness. But he knew better. He kept his emotions tightly locked; she only saw what he wanted her to. Therefore, he knew she had no idea if he felt anything for her at all, let alone that hearing her say his name like that taunted the part of him that wanted to do very naughty, very human things.  
Fighting the beast back into its cage, Damon let out a hard breath and took the petite girl’s face in his hands. Her eyes closed as she let herself lean into his touch. It soothed her to her very soul. Damon caressed her cheeks with his thumbs, studying the mess he made while she got lost in the bliss he was providing. Some part of him always felt guilty, this process...it was so gruesome, so violent, so animalistic. It was never meant for humans.

“Come on, Redbird. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Bonnie was brought back to reality as she took the bloody hand he offered and stepped out of the tub. The first time they had done this had been so messy that Damon had had to bring in bleach to clean his floors and their clothes. They had quickly learned from their heat-of-the-moment mistake and now only took part in blood sharing while standing in the tub. It was a much easier clean up. As for their clothes though, Bonnie glanced down at the old t-shirt and baggy shorts she was wearing, the shirt was soaked in puddles and streaks of blood where it had poured from their wounds and gotten smudged between their bodies. Yeah, the clothing situation was still an issue. Though, Damon had begun to go shirtless, which made things even harder for her because somehow, he was always on guard during their escapades. She was hardly able to sneak in a single touch; it had only happened on one occasion. Two days ago, Damon seemed hungrier than usual and as their mouths were buried at each other’s throats, he didn’t protest when she had slipped her hand between their bodies and slid it up his hard chest, staining his skin red with bloody finger trails. He had shivered then and held her tighter. It had been a magical occasion and she wanted nothing more than to feel it again.

Damon took out all their cleaning supplies from under the sink. Wet wipes, rubbing alcohol, cotton pads, and wash cloths. Bonnie stood and waited for him to start the process of de-staining her like he always did. First, it was her mouth. She could never figure out why he began there and not at her hands. His black eyes always seemed darker when he wiped her lips clean with a warm, wet wash cloth. After that, he would do her hands. He would wipe them off with the cloth before ordering her to wash them at the sink. While she did that, he would wipe his own hands and do a quick swipe over his mouth. After her hands were clean of all traces of blood, which Damon would decide by closely examining them, he would hand her the wash cloth to wipe her neck clean. Lastly, he would take the opportunity to wash his own hands and try to wipe the rest of himself. The alcohol would come out next to get the tricky stains off. As Bonnie stood staring at her sticky, red hands, the blood dried to them like a second skin, Damon came at her with the washcloth to wipe her mouth like usual. When they got done with their cleaning ritual, the crimson drenched cloths sat on the sink counter and the copper and pink dotted cotton pads were in the trash. The next part would come like unwanted clockwork, they would part ways to change clothes.

Bonnie huffed a little as she waited for Damon to collect the trash in a tied up grocery bag and stuff the washables into another bag for her to launder so it was less conspicuous. Damon Salvatore doing his own laundry was unheard of! Yet, rather than following the next steps of their routine, he pulled out fresh sets of clothes for them from underneath the sink and sat them on the non-bloodied side of the counter. Bonnie sucked in a breath at this unexpected development. Her brown orbs flicked back and forth between Damon and the clothes. She waited for them to be handed to her to go change in another room. He was probably just being cautious so she had to sneak a lesser distance back to her room.

Damon looked at a frozen Bonnie and nodded down to her clothes, “Strip those off. Put them in this bag with the washcloths when you’re done.”

Bonnie’s breath hitched as she watched his fingers go to the tie at the waist band of his grey sweatpants. Damon must’ve heard because he stopped and looked up at her from beneath his brows, his raven locks hanging in silky strands over his forehead. 

“Feeling shy?”

Bonnie gulped and quickly shook her head, but Damon could see how her cheeks burned bright pink. He gave a quick half smile and turned his back to her to give her some privacy.  
Bonnie did the same and quickly pulled off her t-shirt, then brought shaky hands down to the waistband of her shorts. She hooked her thumbs inside the waistband but froze as she heard Damon’s pants hit the floor. Slowly, carefully, she turned to glance over her shoulder. He was wearing black boxer briefs and they outlined every inch of his backside perfectly. Bonnie swallowed hard as she swung her head back around and shimmied out of her shorts. Her heart was going a mile a minute as she reached for her new shorts. She let out a tiny squeak as Damon’s half naked body pressed against her back. His hand grabbed her outstretched arm and pulled it back.

“Let me.”

Bonnie shivered internally at his low voice in her ear. She watched him pick up the large white t-shirt with some sports logo on it and instinctively raised her arms as he dressed her. Damon’s fingers tickled the delicate skin of her neck as he grabbed handfuls of her fiery curls to release them from the shirt’s collar. He brushed the freed ringlets to one side and playfully dove for the exposed side of her neck. He bit softly with his normal teeth and Bonnie jumped. Butterflies exploded in her stomach while Damon chuckled. He pulled back, releasing her from his hold. She hastily pulled her new shorts on and Damon watched amusedly as she did. He studied her body from head to toe. Her delicate feet with slender toes, her thin flawless legs, the panty-clad, bottom she was quickly covering with all her might. His tongue dove out to lick his lips involuntarily.  
Bonnie turned and he handed her the thin, plastic bag with all their dirtied washables. She blushed and thanked him for helping her clean up. Damon flashed her a smile and then went to survey the house. She took a deep breath to steady her pounding pulse and calm her trembling while she waited for Damon’s telepathic message that she was clear to sneak off to the laundry room. It came seconds later. His distant voice caressed invisible ears.

“All clear. Get moving!” His whisper surged with urgency and the fact that they weren’t supposed to be caught was reinstated in her mind.

After all, they began this in, what was now, a hazy rush. Bonnie recalled it as she hurried off to the laundry room with her and Damon’s bloody clothes and cleaning cloths.


	2. Aggressive Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 coming at ya! Let me know what you think, good or bad. Note that the italics denote a flashback/memory.

_ It was last Saturday. Elena and Stefan had gone out on a double date with Meredith and Alaric, who was in town visiting his fiancée and family. Earlier in the day, Damon and Stefan had gotten into a fight over his intentions after Damon had come onto Elena and set the younger Salvatore off. The fight had been brutal with both brothers left bleeding afterwards. They had surrendered as soon as Elena caught sight of them. Naturally, she had come down on Damon with wrath for hurting Stefan so badly and then took Stefan away to help him recover. She knew Damon would be fine to heal on his own; he subsisted off human blood. That evening, Stefan and Elena had left a very angry Damon inside the house to throw a fit. He hadn’t gone out hunting as Bonnie had expected. Rather, he had stayed in and moped. _

__

_ She caught him ripping up letters which she assumed he wrote either, as private thoughts or, as love notes to eventually give to Elena. She had tried to stay in her room, Stefan had given her instructions to call him or Matt if Damon started acting up, but the noise of him throwing his tantrum was too loud for her to ignore. She also hadn’t wanted to immediately sick the righteous brigade on him when he was down. She had imagined he was probably pretty down already, and she knew him well enough to know that that tactic wouldn’t help anybody. _

__

_ Damon had caught sight of her checking on him and Bonnie remembered how pale he looked. He was always pale, yes, but there was no human-like glow to his skin, and circles lined his eyes. It had looked like he hadn’t fed. No human blood was keeping his appearance life-like and flushed; the deadness inside had been all there was left to show. She had frozen in place, getting her telepathy ready to call out for Stefan’s aid. She had been sure Damon was about to attack. But he did something much worse. He had stalked her, like prey. _

She shivered as she loaded the clothes into the washer, remembering his words to her.

_ “I’m hungry, Bonnie.” _

__

_ She had felt a scream bubbling up in her throat. Damon knew immediately and had her back against the wall of his room in a millisecond. His large hand had clasped hard over her mouth, his expression was wild. Bonnie knew her eyes were bulging in fear. It was exactly that fear that had kept her from calling for Stefan. Damon had read her like a book. _

Bonnie blushed as she recalled what happened next, pouring detergent into the washer.

_ Damon hadn’t been nice...he had been aggressive. He had given her his blood first that time. What was left in his body began to pour out from his wrist as he sliced it open with a nearby letter opener. He hadn’t asked, he had shoved it against her mouth. At first, she was revolted. She could feel her gag reflex getting ready to expel the moment she attempted to swallow. At her reluctance, Damon had grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. She had gasped in response and involuntarily swallowed. Damon towered over her menacingly; he looked starved, but also intrigued...or thrilled, she hadn’t been able to decipher which. But something had changed in her then. It was like an entirely new version of herself appeared, and she feared it. _

Bonnie cringed while pushing the “start” button on the energy efficient washing machine.

_ The feeling that had washed over her then made her ravenous. She wanted him viciously, suddenly needing his blood like she needed air. Her fear had vanished, and she grabbed hold of his arm like it was her only way to live. She sucked hard at the wound trickling blood into her mouth and swallowed just as feverishly. Damon twisted and shifted around behind her. Next thing she knew, she felt his fangs bury deep into the side of her throat. She had flinched at the sharp sting and then relaxed as an unfamiliar tingling sensation burst and spread through every inch of her. It never let up and kept lapping at her in powerful waves. Damon drank from her as if he were utterly parched. His moan had come unexpectedly into her ears and had made her feel much weaker than she really was; his blood had invigorated her to the very core. _

_ Damon tore his wrist from her mouth and finished two more gulps of her blood before he had pulled away from her and stumbled backward. He had reached a hand out to the wall to steady himself. His breaths were ragged as he came down from their...um...blood high? Bonnie hadn’t been sure what to call it. _

As she entered her room, she did remember exactly how she had felt afterwards, however...

_ She stood there, coming down from the high herself and she had felt both longing and revulsion, both excitement and terror. She looked down at her hands and saw blood from where she had been clawing at his wrist. Her eyes had trailed further down to her clothes to see her pink, silk top colored bright red. Blood was on the matching shorts, down her legs, and in puddles beneath her bare feet too. Damon had to have been able to tell she was about to scream because he ran over to her and began to shush her. _

__

_ “Bonnie! Bonnie, it’s ok! Come on, just walk with me to the bathroom,” he pleaded, but she had felt like she would pass out at any moment. _

__

_ Damon must have sensed that too because he had scooped her up in his arms and whisked her away to the bathroom where he began to clean them both up. Somewhere along the way, after coming down from her shock, she had begun to remember how she felt during their exchange. What scared her was the fact that she had a craving for more. _

Bonnie huffed as she flung herself down onto her fluffy pink bed. What was she doing? Letting Damon take blood from her as he pleased...taking blood from him...at the same time. Was she some sort of blood whore now? Was that even a thing?  She slapped her hands over her face and groaned. What if Elena or Stefan found out? Or Matt? Or Meredith?! They would  _ kill _ Damon and reprimand her for life like she was a misbehaved child. Maybe she was...

How had this even become a routine?

Oh! ...that’s right. She blushed as the memory flooded her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Bloody Mess

_ She found Damon frustratedly cleaning his floors with bleach the next morning and offered to help. She felt guilty for ruining them. _

__

_ “No, just go back to your room.” Damon had responded, irritation laced in his tone. _

__

_ She lingered just a little too long in his doorway to be inconspicuous and Damon had taken notice. He stopped scrubbing with a huff and gave her his full attention. _

__

_ “What do you want Bonnie?” came his exasperated tone. _

__

_ Bonnie blushed and fixed her gaze on her small feet, swaddled in polka dot socks. She shuffled them on the carpet and twiddled her fingers. Damon’s irritation grew. _

__

_ “What do you want?!” He snapped. _

__

_ Squeezing her eyes shut, she blurted, “More!” _

__

_ Damon’s brows scrunched together in confusion and he blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of her admission. _

__

_ “What?” He asked, annoyance and confusion mixing in mask on his face. _

__

_ With an exasperated sigh Bonnie flung her hands out in a flurry of gestures, “Whatever we did...yesterday. You know...the blood thingy!” _

__

_ Realization dawned on Damon and his expression turned serious. _

__

_ “No. We aren’t doing that again. It was a mistake.” _

_ _

_ He gestured to the blood stains he had been frantically scrubbing at, “this isn’t just my blood Bonnie! You could’ve died!” _

_ _

_ He stood and threw the scrubber brush down, “do you understand that at all?! The only reason you’re standing here right now is because of my blood! Otherwise I would have drained you completely dry! What we did isn’t meant for humans!” _

__

_ Bonnie stared at the pools of old, brown blood settled deep into the fibers of the carpet flooring. Nausea flitted in her stomach, but her mouth watered and her body shuddered for more, still. She hung her head down and rubbed at her arm awkwardly. _

__

_ “Was it gross?” She asked timidly. _

__

_ Damon let out a long sigh and calmed his harsh tone, “Your blood wasn’t gross if that’s what you’re asking.” _

__

_ Damon seemed to contemplate for a moment before stalking toward her and propping himself against the wall with a hand next to her head. He dipped his head down, trying to be eye level with her, trying to understand her. _

__

_ “Bonnie...why do you want to share blood with me? Hmm?” _

__

_ Bonnie locked her dark eyes with his pitch-black ones. _

__

_ “Well...I mean, it f-felt-“ _

__

_ With a knowing look swirling in his black pearls, Damon cut her off by biting into his wrist. Bonnie felt like she was trancing; she couldn’t tear her eyes from the blood that began to trickle down his arm and land with soft thuds onto the carpet below. Damon’s low chuckle tickled her ears and she lunged for the open wound, her body awakening the call of his crimson sustenance. Damon pulled his arm just out of her reach with a repetitive “ah” sound and her gaze darted to his. Her thin, red brows pulled in confusion.  _

__

_ “You have to share.” Damon teased in a voice just above a whisper. _

__

_ All she remembered after that was sucking the sweetest of blood into her system and being gently laid down onto a towel as Damon bit into the base of her neck. That same feeling of ecstasy that had hit yesterday rushed right back, and she welcomed it with open arms, shaking and shivering as she exchanged blood with the bad brother. Bonnie lapped and sucked at Damon’s wrist while his tongue languidly ran just beneath the puncture wounds he had made, savoring each droplet. While less aggressive, the act remained just as gruesome as the last time. By the time Damon had pulled himself away, the clean towel was drenched in blood on one side. Bonnie stared at her own fresh fluid painted thick across Damon’s greedy mouth. _

_ _

_ In total silence, Damon ushered her into the bathroom to clean up. There, she had been faced with the true terror of what they had done. She was a wreck. Her hair was matted with blood on the side Damon had bitten. Her neck was discolored in deep maroon that had seeped down into her shirt. She had studied her top then; it was stuck to her skin in places and hung heavy from the weight of her life essence. She looked back up to her reflection in Damon’s wide, modern mirror. Blood coated her lips like a spooky, Halloween lipstick. Streams of it marked her chin and neck, running down past her collarbone and in between her breasts. She looked like she had just stepped out of a horror movie. Fear churned up in her at the very sight of herself. The only difference was that the movie characters in her condition were typically very pale and weak. But Bonnie couldn’t have felt more the opposite. While her skin was naturally alabaster, her cheeks were pink with life and her pulse beat stronger than ever. Not a single inch of her felt off. She felt energized and...good. _

A tapping at her door pulled her back from her memory with a start.

“Bonnie? Can I come in?” A melodic female voice sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and for the little "Kudos" I've gotten! Means a lot! Chapters will definitely be getting longer soon, bear with me.


	4. Sleuthing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stick with me through these shorter chapters. I just have to keep it formatted like it is in my head or I’ll go crazy. Haha!

Damon was stuffing a large, black trash bag into the bin outside. His escapades with the little red head and his recent rooming with Elena’s group had him doing many more human-like chores lately. He took a deep whiff of the air. The smell of alcohol had been smothered enough to where someone of his species, namely saint Stefan, wouldn’t be suspicious. His mouth watered as his thoughts drifted back to a few nights ago, when his little bird had come to him, showing her first signs of addiction. 

_After their frantic feeding, he had sat back on his heels and examined the damage. He wiped his hand across his lips, only smudging the blood, and stared at Bonnie, who was still trying to catch her breath. The curls at the left side of her neck, the side he had fed from, were damp with her blood. The dark red mixed into the lighter, fiery red of her hair, looking like some sort of dye job gone wrong. She would need a shower._

_Without a word, he had ushered her into his bathroom. He sighed as he turned back to the blood-soaked towel after shutting the door. He had kept his ears piqued to the sound of the house. Meredith’s footsteps were commanding and confident as she walked down to the kitchen. Elena sat there, making the old kitchen chair creak slightly with the soft shifts of her breathtaking body. Where was Stefan? He had picked up on his brother’s obnoxious and precise footsteps walking in from outside. He must have just come from feeding on bunnies, which meant that he would be visiting his ‘lovely love’ for the next hour. How dare he spend two seconds from her presence? But how could he blame his love-struck brother?! Damon knew he would rarely leave her side if she was his._

_Before he could cut off his heightened hearing, he had heard Bonnie peeling her clothes from her body. Images of her petite silhouette clouded his mind. Her bare skin...her scent turning aromatic from the shower’s steam..._

_D_ _amon shook his head to clear it and focused his attention to the added mess on his floor. Bending down, he picked up the towel where he had laid her and saw a brand new stain in the carpet._

_“Fuck me,” he groaned._

Damon grumbled to himself, annoyed again from recalling the sullied state of his bedroom floor. For once, Damon had thanked God that Stefan had been over-preoccupied with Elena for the past week or he would have never been able to get the stains up without a riot. It had taken him an entire day and a bucket of bleach to remove the stains. He had a newfound respect for murderers. But then his dingy carpet was pristinely white in spots and he had had to settle for an old rug he had stored in his closet. It was an ugly thing that he hated, but if it kept him from getting a stake twisted through his heart then so be it. Damon wondered how much time they really had to keep this up? Would their friends catch on if he kept up this extreme sleuth? He licked his lips again, still able to taste traces of the red head’s blood. He was willing to risk it. 

“Come in, Elena.” 

Elena’s fingers wrapped around the door first before her golden head popped through. She smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling at either end. 

“I just wanted to check on you. I noticed you washing clothes again.” 

Bonnie felt the panic arising, but she managed to keep her composure. 

“Again? What do you mean?” She questioned, feigning confusion. 

Elena stepped fully into her room and softly shut the door behind her. 

“I just noticed you’ve been doing laundry a lot this week and you typically do it every 2 weeks, if that.” 

Bonnie sat up and crossed her legs, taking on a stern face in hopes of hiding her building panic. 

“I just had a lot of laundry to do. I wanted to get ahead.” 

Elena dropped it easily, much to Bonnie’s relief, and sat down beside her. 

“Ok! Sorry for prying, I just wanted to make sure you’re ok.” She placed a caring hand on Bonnie’s leg. 

Bonnie smiled up at her angelic best friend. 

“Thank you for asking.” 

“Of course.” 

Elena stood, “well, Stefan and I are going out for a little shopping trip. You want to come?” 

Bonnie shook her head, “Watching you and Stefan kiss every five minutes while third-wheeling isn’t exactly my type of fun.” 

Elena laughed and rolled her eyes playfully. 

“Bye, Bonnie!” 

Bonnie giggled, “Have fun!” 

The door shut and she fell with a soft thud back into her mattress and let out a long sigh. Her heart was still pounding. As she lay there thinking, she went over details of the first and second time she and Damon had blood shared. Just the thought had butterflies flitting excitedly in her stomach. It had started on such a whim and had continued because of her. At least, the 2nd time had... 


	5. Risky Visits

_It had been a whole day since they had last exchanged blood. Bonnie sat in her room journaling her sad thoughts. They would probably never do it again. It would all be just a memory for the rest of her miserable life._ _ A knock on the door sounded and Bonnie quickly flipped the pages of the journal shut. _

_“Yeah?”_

_“It’s me,” came a very masculine voice from the other side of her bedroom door._

_Bonnie perked up and ran to the door, grasping the handle and twisting. She was suddenly shaky as she opened the door just enough to face him. He was beautiful. Since he had gotten settled at the boarding house with them, he had taken up wearing comfortable clothes for the first time ever. To her, it was just about the best thing he had ever done. She did a quick glance over his body and secretly marveled at the black joggers slung low on his narrow hips. His equally dark t-shirt hugged his upper body nicely as well. She could see the faint outlines of his muscles through the thin material._

_Locking her eyes with his dark pools of seduction, she offered a shy smile, “Hi.”_

_Damon returned a lazy half smile and then his eyes dropped down her body. She suddenly became very aware of the fact that she was wearing very short shorts and a light blue camisole that hugged her upper body._

_He did a quick check of his surroundings and then asked, “can I come in?”_

_Bonnie was having trouble forming words, so she just stepped back and let him push his way in. He quickly shut the door behind him with all the quietness a vampire could muster. He leaned his back against the door and stared at her firmly. Bonnie waited anxiously for him to start speaking._

_“You look like you’re feeling fine?”_

_“Yes?” She answered unsurely, searching Damon’s face for signs of his purpose. Where was he going with this?_

_He pushed off the door by his hips and stalked toward her._

_“You can’t keep coming to me, Bonnie. It’s dangerous."_

_She stared at him as if he were a mental patient, “You came here to tell me that_ I  _can’t come to_ you  _anymore?"_

_Damon crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring her raised brow._

_“Yes, because you need to hear it."_

_Anger rose in her. How dare he come to her to tell_ her  _to stop coming to_ him  ! _What sense did that even make?!"_

 _What do you mean? You came_ here _!_ _” She pointed out, the volume of her voice rising._

 _Damon took a step closer and pointed a hard finger at his chest, “_ I’ve  _never come to you for blood!”_

_Bonnie didn’t back down from him, “No, you just took it!”_

_Damon clenched his jaw, caught off guard by her statement. She took things a step further and shoved him, he barely budged._

_“_ You _started this!”_

_Damon grabbed her wrists in either of his hands, his fingers like iron cuffs around her fragile bones._

_“Don’t go pointing blame at me!_ You’re _the one who came right back for more!”_

_“Because you forced your blood down my throat!”_

_Damon got in her face, “And you wanted it!”_

_Bonnie blushed and yanked her wrists from Damon’s hold. He willingly released them from his grip._

_“It’s not my fault!”_

_Damon was befuddled, “Do enlighten me…how is it not_ your _fault for wanting it?!”_

_“I didn’t know what I was doing! I didn’t even know such a thing as blood sharing existed! But it’s your fault that I feel this way now!”_

_Tears sprang in Bonnie’s eyes, her heated state becoming outwardly apparent._

_Damon’s eyes narrowed at her, “Whatever feelings you get from my blood aren’t my problem!”_

_Bonnie’s eyes widened; her voice registered barely above a whisper as she spoke, “do you feel it too...”_

_The accusatory vampire’s icy black orbs softened, “Well, yes. It’s a common effect of blood sharing.”_

_He played it off like it was nothing._

_Bonnie’s mouth dropped open to match her eyes, “You knew I would feel like that?!”_

_Damon seemed not to be affected by her voice’s rise in octaves._

_He held up one correctional finger and raised his brows, “I knew how it would feel, not that you wouldn’t be able to control yourself! I never intended on blood sharing with you!”_

_Bonnie’s face went red like a volcano about to burst. Her fists balled up at her sides, “_ I  _can’t control myself?!”_

_She poked a finger into his chest, “_ You’re  _the one who attacked me! And_ you’re  _the one that’s in my room right now.”_

_Damon slapped her hand away, “Because_ you  _came to me the other day!”_

_Tears were filled to the brim of her bright brown orbs._

_“You didn’t say no,” she reminded in a soft voice, teetering on the edge of blowing up and breaking down._

_Damon released a long breath from his puffed chest and grabbed her hand. Without any explanation he dragged Bonnie into the bathroom connected to her room and over to the counter. He easily lifted her onto the counter and stood in front of her, a hand placed on either side of her thighs, locking her in place._

_“Because I didn’t want to,” he confessed._

_Bonnie’s breath hitched and she watched Damon bite into his own wrist. She was instantly pining for the red liquid. Her mouth watered fervently and she swallowed hard._ _ Damon turned back to her before licking his lips and Bonnie couldn’t tear her eyes from his mouth as he did. His midnight irises swirled red and branches of tiny red veins crawled outward across his under eyes. _

_“Your blood is much too addicting, Miss McCullough,” he stated lowly, his tone practically predatory._

_Damon gave her his wrist at the same time he feverishly attacked her neck. They both melted into one another between a series of little moans and throaty growls. Random bathroom products on the countertop crashed together as Damon attempted to press his body as close to hers as possible. The mirror and all the contents beneath it became splattered and smudged with their bloods. Damon tuned into Meredith’s footsteps hastily coming down the hallway toward Bonnie’s bathroom door. Never severing his mouth from her neck, he grabbed the handle of the faucet and twisted it full blast to smother their noises._ _ The knock came seconds after. _

_“Bonnie? Are you ok? I heard a crash!”_

_Damon took his wrist from Bonnie’s mouth, urging her to answer calmly. He just barely retracted his fangs from her neck so that her euphoria would dissipate. She could still feel his razor-like teeth pressing to her skin. Any swift movements would have her bleeding in a whole new way. The haziness of rapture left her and she swallowed hard to clear her throat, feeling the sting of her open puncture wounds._

_“I-I just dropped something! I’m ok!”_

_“Ok! Just making sure!” Meredith called back._

_Damon heard Meredith’s feet take a whole two steps away before his fangs had sunken back into Bonnie’s bloody flesh. The red head sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut at the pain. Damon quickly brought his wrist up to her mouth to drown out her pain with pleasure._

Bonnie smiled and sighed dreamily. Somehow, after that, Damon had allowed them free reign to exchange blood as they pleased. Nothing had been set in stone, it was simply an unspoken rule between them. Since that 3rd time, they had done it once almost every day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry if anything’s messed up, lack of sleep and job-hunting have my brain a bit fuzzy. More chapters coming soon!


	6. Dealing Dares

Damon whistled as he strode back into the boarding house with his hands in his pants pockets. Stefan caught him as he was leaving, car keys in hand.

“You seem chipper,” Stefan commented, surprise in his voice.

Damon shrugged, “Heading out?”

Stefan glanced down at his keys, “Just off to grab a bite.”

Damon laughed, “Have fun nibbling on those squirrels, brother.”

He walked past Stefan but his younger brother’s hand shot out and gently touched his shoulder.

“Hey...” he began.

Damon turned, giving his irritating sibling a lazy stare and a half-interested expression.

“Hmm?” He hummed.

Stefan’s green eyes were hard, concerned, “I, uh, I noticed your blood bags are low, why didn’t you tell me?”

Damon stayed silent, his eyes narrowed as he angled his head back to give Stefan a cold, scrutinizing stare. Stefan waited for an answer but Damon just clicked his tongue. A small half-smile flashed across his lips and a short, humorless chuckle escaped him.

“You’ve been checking up on me, little brother?”

Stefan sighed, anger already stirring in his piney depths, “Listen Damon, we made a deal. You can stay here if you stop bleeding humans. If you’ve started again...”

Damon cut him off with a quick laugh. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

“So you’re jumping to conclusions now I see.”

Stefan pressed a hand to his head and squeezed his eyes shut briefly, as if his head hurt just looking at his brother.

“Look! Damon, I’m not trying to. But the fact is-“

Damon jumped in, “the fact is that I have not bled any humans...only the blood bags you so lovingly bring home from the hospital for me,” he finished in a bout of theatrics.

Stefan rolled his eyes but gave in. There was no use to accuse him of violating the terms of his stay any further. He didn’t have enough proof.

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. You just seem like you aren’t drinking as much as usual.” Stefan threw his hands up in mock surrender as he eyes his brother warily.

Wearing a frigid smirk, Damon patted his brother on the shoulder hard once...then twice, “Don’t worry about how much I drink little brother, or I may just have to steal a taste of your girl.”

Stefan growled and was about to yell but it was Damon’s turn to mock surrender. He held up his hands as he walked slowly backward from his brother.

“Kidding!”

 _Mostly_ , he thought to himself as he turned his back on Stefan, his lips still twisted into the most devious smirk.

Damon waltzed into the kitchen to have a conversation with his princess while she was free. She always ate dinner while Stefan was out chasing after chipmunks. Bonnie and Meredith were there too. They sat at the table together talking and laughing. Her giggle was very prominent in his ears. Damon smiled to himself, her giggle was...cute, girly, like her. Flashes of the maiden drenched in their bloods went off in his head. The word ‘cute’ definitely matched her, but she could be so much more. Their new arrangement had allowed him to see new sides of her. It was very...interesting...

He hid his smile as he walked past the two gossipy girls and over to Elena. She was at the stove, her blonde brows pulled down in hard concentration at the recipe she was trying to master. The apron fitted to her slender body was covered in patches of flour and smears of egg wash. Fork in hand, she turned to the island behind her and continued dipping chicken breasts into the various vats of ingredients that she had neatly laid out. Damon admired her long, silky strands of gold from the back. Her hair had always been so soft to the touch. He could feel it sliding between his fingers. But he had an audience, and one that included a little red head that was secretly watching his every move. Internally, he sighed heavily and decided to play nice. Propping an elbow onto the counter beside her breading station, he kept his face mostly plain. Aside from one genuine half smile. He was technically still on her bad side from the whole fight a week ago, but he had been slowly gaining some ground.

“Need any help?”

Elena’s deep blue eyes bore into his briefly before darting down to a plate full of uncooked, breaded chicken. She picked it up and handed it to him.

“You can take this and place it by the stove.”

Damon grinned and took the plate off her hands, sliding his fingers over her skin as he did so. Elena’s gaze turned into a warning and he continued with his task, feigning innocence.

“And can you bring me another plate?”

Damon grabbed a fresh plate from a nearby cabinet and walked up to Elena’s left side. He reached around her, setting the requested plate in front of her. He took in her scent as his body was pulled centimeters from hers for the briefest of seconds. It was a clean scent, but also like lavender. It was everything a princess of darkness should be, perfect and elegant. Elena cleared her throat and shifted away just slightly. Damon stepped back easily before it could become a problem. He had accomplished his task and wore a cocky smirk. He could feel Meredith’s eyes on him now, she was ready to pounce if he tried anything, like a lioness protecting her cub.

“Anything else?”

“No, I’ve got it. Thank you.”

Damon walked away easily and went to sit down at the opposite end of the kitchen table. Meredith turned her cat-like gaze on him, narrow and prodding.

“Why are you in the kitchen?” She pried with her knuckles pressed into her cheek, propping her head up.

Bonnie tried to keep herself from looking in his direction by training her eyes on her nails. She faltered a few times; Damon noticed her eyes flitting between him and her paint-chipped nails. Looking back and forth between the two girls, one judging and the other anxious, he simply sucked in a long breath and leaned forward, his chest over the wooden table.

“I’m hungry,” he said lowly, pointedly.

Bonnie shifted in her seat; his vampire sight could see her skin flushing soft pink. His ears picked up on the jump in her pulse.

Meredith scoffed, “well none of us are offering!”

Bonnie’s eyes shot to Damon’s and he slowly let his gaze lock with hers. Guilt swam in her chocolate pools. He kept his face stoic, but his eyes threw her a smirk. But before he could tear them from her, Meredith had followed his line of sight.

“Don’t even think about it,” she practically growled.

Damon turned his eyes as innocent as a kitten’s, “what?”

Meredith’s eyes narrowed into slits, “You know exactly what!”

Damon groaned, giving a lazy eye roll, and threw himself back into his chair, head upturned to the ceiling.

“If you ever touch her-“

Damon interjected, “I haven’t touched her, nor will I ever!”

He didn’t dare ask Bonnie for a backup confirmatory, she seemed as if she were about to break down any second.

 _Bonnie, calm down. They don’t know anything,_ He sent through their mind connection.

“Touched who? What did you do?” came Elena’s angry voice, equally ready to pounce.

Damon closed his eyes, tired of the conversation, “I haven’t done anything, princess.”

Elena stomped over to them, hands on her hips like a mom ready to reprimand her kids.

Meredith gave her a quick rundown of what had happened and Damon let his head fall back down. His dark eyes landed on Bonnie, already staring at him through the commotion. He shot her a smirk and his eyelids dropped, turning his gaze seductive. The small redhead blushed but smiled back at him.

 _Sorry about them_ , came her telepathic message.

Damon made a face that said, “don’t be,” and was then being yelled at by his princess. Bonnie noticed his enjoyment of it. He couldn’t seem to keep the smile from his face.

“What’s this about bleeding Bonnie?” a raspy male voice interrupted.

The arguing quieted in an instant and each gaze shot to the owner of the voice...except Damon’s. The dark vampire groaned outwardly. Bonnie jumped up from her chair with a huge smile on her face. The other two girls seemed to relax as well.

“Matt!” Bonnie cried and ran over to hug him.

The all-American blonde boy happily engulfed her in a big hug. The muscles in Damon’s jaw were very visible as he gritted his teeth. Hoping to sneak away from the conversation, and Mutt’s presence, he took the opportunity to get up with all the stealthy grace of his kind and speed out of the kitchen.

“Are you ok?” Matt asked, staring into her starry brown eyes.

“Of course!” She answered giddily.

The conversation fell into one much more pleasant as Elena brought out fried chicken to her table of friends, and they all sat down to eat together as a make-shift family.

After eating, the friends all sat on the floor around the oval wooden table in the living room. Elena was cuddled next to Stefan, Meredith was at one end of the table, Matt at the other, and Bonnie cross-legged across from Elena and Stefan. With three decks of Bicycle cards shuffled together and dealt out, they all competed in a game of War. They laughed as Stefan and Matt declared War, going head to head and throwing silly insults at one another along the way. Bonnie was in tears from laughing so hard when she heard the clopping of boots walking toward them. She stiffened and was glad her friends were all looking at the owner of the boots instead of her face; she could feel it heating up.

“War? Really?” the boot owner’s voice questioned.

Bonnie’s gaze quickly washed over each friend’s face. Matt’s face was angry, his lips clenched and set in a hard line. Elena looked concerned while Stefan’s eyes were studying the intruder with a coldness that scared her. Meredith just looked annoyed, probably assuming their game night was now over.

Damon ignored all the dirty looks he was currently receiving and sat down next to Bonnie. He stretched his legs out in front of him, his boots disappearing underneath the table.

“Deal me in.” he demanded, leaning back casually against an antique chair.

The group looked at one another and fought with their eyes momentarily. Somewhere within the fight, everyone had listened to Elena, who was too nice for her own good. With a collective sigh, Stefan took up all the cards and reshuffled. To everyone’s surprise, the game went fine, and was even more fun than before. Until Damon declared war with Bonnie.

The cocky vampire turned to his secret blood bag and flashed one of his killer smiles. Bonnie swallowed hard and readied herself. Stefan counted down from three. On “go,” they both flipped over a card. It was a tie again. Bonnie laughed, easing everyone’s tension. A small smile slipped and stretched across Damon’s lips as he stared at the giggling red-head. Her button nose was scrunched slightly, matching her eyes, and her wide smile beamed from ear to ear. Red curls bounced as she shook.

Her high-pitched giggling was contagious as both Elena and Meredith began to laugh along with her. Elena got a hold of Bonnie’s attention and told her to focus as she readied them to flip again.

Bonnie calmed herself, “ok, ok.”

She put her hand over a card and gave Damon a playful, competitive glare. Damon smirked in response and narrowed his eyes at her. He was in a particularly competitive mood himself. Elena counted down this time, and on “go,” they, once again, tied.

Bonnie burst into another fit of giggles and the other girls joined in this time. Stefan smiled at his brother, as he studied his genuine interactions with Bonnie. Although seeming angry, Damon was smiling just a little as he reached for her deck of cards.

“This isn’t possible!” he complained

Acting on instinct, and a flurry of competitiveness, Bonnie shot her hand out and grabbed Damon’s before he could touch her cards.

“Hey! Play fair!”

Damon grasped onto her hand, holding it in his.

His dark eyes bore into hers, “Playing dirty is much more fun.”

Bonnie didn’t have time to gawk over him, he had let go of her hand and turned his eyes back on their cards just as quickly as he had turned them on her. Bonnie’s eyes landed on Matt. He was fuming internally, she could tell by the daggers his ice blue eyes were throwing at Damon. Elena cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably before her gaze delicately fluttered from the table up to Damon. He gave her a wolfish grin and Bonnie couldn’t ignore the fact that his eyes held hunger…or longing while his sight remained connected with hers. Stefan, didn’t catch this somehow, as he was busy exchanging concerned looks with Meredith. All of this passed within seconds and then Damon was ready to flip another card as if nothing had ever transpired.

They flipped cards once more and Bonnie had a Queen against Damon’s measly 4 of Spades.

Bonnie gave a small clap of victory and squealed, “Yes!”

Damon slumped back against the chair and let her take his cards.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“I guess ‘playing dirty’ isn’t so fun, huh?” Meredith quipped.

Damon snorted, “Fun, is an understatement.”

He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and turning his head toward Meredith, strands of raven hair falling into his eyes.

“It’s intoxicating.”

Meredith fake gagged and rolled her eyes, “You’re disgusting.”

Damon’s eyes flicked to Bonnie’s for only a second.

 _Your thoughts are loud, redbird_ , came a nonchalant toned voice.

Bonnie sucked in a breath and readjusted her position, her cheeks were going red.

 _I wasn’t projecting,_ she replied, her voice on the edge of panic.

_Your eyes, little one. They are very loud._

Damon felt her relax as he lazily continued playing War alongside the group.

_Oh! …sorry._

Damon raised an eyebrow, glancing at her as she mindlessly flipped cards.

 _I have to ask,_ _what_ were _you thinking about?_

He felt her stiffen beside him again.

_Just stuff._

_Blood stuff?_

Bonnie’s eyes snapped to Damon to see he was already looking at her. She rapidly gained her composure and focused on the game at hand. She shrugged in response.

A small smirk tugged at one edge of Damon’s lips.

After Stefan had gained most of the cards, everyone surrendered. Meredith chimed in and the next game they decided on was BS.

“You should be good at that Damon!” she jabbed.

Matt openly laughed. Damon opened his mouth to throw some sort of sarcastic remark back, but Bonnie cut him off.

“I’m terrible at this game!” she whined, already sounding defeated.

“It’s ok! I’ll help you out.” Matt offered, a bright smile on his face.

Bonnie smiled at his kindness.

“Well I’m getting bored with card games anyway, so I’ll help you out. It just so happens that I _am_ good at this game. Thank you, Meredith.”

Before anyone could protest, Damon settled himself behind the unsuspecting redhead and pulled her in between his legs.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, redbird.” He said, looking intently over her shoulder at her hand.

Bonnie’s heart skipped a beat and Damon could smell her delectable blood as it pumped faster through her veins. Maybe this hadn’t been his smartest idea. Her bare neck lay just under the mass of curls. Damon could see peaks of it through her fiery tendrils. His canines ached to be buried in it, sucking her dry, yet keeping her alive by his blood, and feeling the ecstasy that dragged them both to a sweet hell.

He was almost glad when he heard Mutt’s annoying voice pipe up to distract him from his dangerous thoughts.

“Why don’t you do us all a favor and fuck off?” Matt seethed.

Yeah… _almost_ glad…

Bonnie gasped at his language, as Elena and Meredith both stared on with wide eyes. Damon chuckled darkly and Bonnie shivered in his arms. He knew she could feel his rage as if it were her own.

His eyes bore dangerously hard into Matt’s, injecting every ounce of ice into him. Matt stayed his ground, never backing down from the opponent that could end his life with a single flick to the chest. He was courageous that way, always putting fear aside to protect the ones he loves. But he was also very, very stupid in this way, letting his anger make him haughty.

“Go do what you do best, drain some poor girl dry! At least it’ll give us all some peace from you!” Matt spat.

“Matt, stop.” Stefan chided, his voice stern but still calm. He always had to play the mediator.

“Just calm do-“

“Sure” Damon growled.

All in one fluid motion, Damon grabbed a fistful of Bonnie’s curls and yanked her head back, exposing her throat. His iris’s swirled a deep, menacing red and the tiny red viens branched out from beneath his eyes. Sharp fangs grew like daggers in his mouth and he angled them right above Bonnie’s jugular. The tiny girl yelped and grabbed onto Damon’s wrist at the back of her head, trying to pry it off to no avail.

“Ow!” she cried, tears swelling in her big, brown depths.

Elena and Meredith both jumped to help Bonnie, but Stefan held them back. Matt froze in place, as Damon turned his demon eyes to him. His worried gaze shifted to Bonnie, who was pleading for him to be smart about his next move.

“Is this what you want, Mutt?!” Damon hissed and licked his lips.

Matt gulped, unsure of what his next move should be, and shot a panicked look at Stefan. The good Salvatore was already in action. He stood from the floor and glared at Damon. His fangs were bared too, ready to attack Damon at a moment’s notice.

“Enough, Damon! Let her go!”

Damon gave no mind to his brother.

“I do drain girls best, and I could do it right now. In front of you.” Damon paused and let his tongue run along Bonnie’s neck purposefully slow, “I promise you she’d like it too.”

Matt’s fists clenched and his panic turned to seething. He was about to lunge straight for Damon, but a small squeak from Bonnie stopped him. Her chest heaved as her breaths came fast. Fear swam in her eyes. No matter her attempts to remove Damon’s hand from her hair, it was like a feather pushing against steel. She was helpless to him. He had gotten her in this position, and he also had the power to make it worse. There was no telling what Damon would do at this point.

“Matt…don’t.” Bonnie begged, her voice shaky.

“Just let Bonnie go…” Elena pleaded calmly, hoping he would listen to her.

Meredith kept her mouth shut, figuring it was for the best. She had nothing nice left to say to him.

Elena’s angelic voice cut through his rage and the blood red pooling in his irises dissipated until they were back to their normal charcoal color. Damon let his fangs retract and loosened his hand from Bonnie’s hair and the small, frightening girl scooted free of him. He balled his hand into a fist, fighting the urge to reach for her.

Meredith cast a death glare onto Damon before crawling over to her trembling friend alongside Elena. The two girls closed in on Bonnie and comforted her. Matt held her hands in his and uttered pitiful apologies. Bonnie was too dizzy and in an array of mixed emotions to answers anyone’s ‘are you ok?’ ‘are you hurt?’ questions clearly. She only managed to mutter little ‘yeah’s’ and ‘I’m fine’s’.

Damon stood from the floor and took his time storming from the room. Stefan followed, hot on his tail. Once they were out of ears reach, in the backyard of the Boarding house, Stefan spoke first.

“What the hell was that?!”

“What happens when a pathetic human _boy_ insults me!” Damon seethed, throwing a pointer finger toward the mortal male seated beside his girl somewhere inside the house.

“I’ll admit Matt was out of line, Damon, but Bonnie?! Why would you do that to her?”

Stefan paused, Damon didn’t answer.

“You know how easily she’s scared…how easily she’s scared of you! Why would you make her scared of you?!”

Damon looked away from Stefan, guilt coating his features.

“I saw you two tonight. You were having fun. She was having fun _with_ you!”

Stefan stared at his brother for a moment, searching for some sign of remorse.

“I saw the way you looked at her tonight. I know some part of you cares for her.”

Damon laughed incredulously, “Wow, Stefan! I never knew you had a degree in psychology.”

Stefan let out a long breath and shook his head, “I just want to know why. Why do you do these things? Why do you make people hate you?”

Damon smirked at his brother, “Just a talent, I guess.”

Stefan rolled his eyes pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, “Just stay away from Bonnie from now on, ok? And me, if you don’t mind.”

Stefan sped past him and back into the house.

“No problem, little brother.” Damon mumbled to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. If you'd like more chapters, check out this story over on fanfiction (Red Flags is still the name). Please let me know what you think, if you love it, hate it, anything. I enjoy reading all feedback. More chapters soon.


	7. Discoveries

The sky grew dark, and Damon landed in Bonnie’s room through her open window. Bonnie jumped at his sudden appearance and her face fell. She got off her bed and stomped toward him.

“I’m sor-“

Bonnie slapped him across the face with all the power she had. It wasn’t much, but Damon certainly felt the sting. Though, he wasn’t sure if he felt the sting more in his face or his chest.

“If you think you’re drinking from me tonight, you’re wro-“

Damon took up her face in his hands, his fingers threading into the back of hair. His lips landed on hers just as her back hit the wall. His muscular form pressed into her, pinning her against him. He held her lips with his, kissing her hard and long. Bonnie’s shock swiftly wore off as she melted into him.

After what felt like ages, Damon lifted his lips from hers and stared down at her in the near darkness of her cool room. His lips lingered centimeters from hers as he spoke; his soft breath mingling with hers, his taste still dancing on her tongue.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He breathed.

Bonnie couldn’t seem to catch her breath, and her mind was foggy. But then it dawned on her that this was the first time she had ever heard Damon apologize. Tears flooded her eyes and spilled down her flushed face. Damon’s thumbs were there, gently brushing away the droplets as they fell.

Here he was, sweetly wiping away her tears, apologizing to her…kissing her. She didn’t know what to make of him anymore. Mere hours ago he had her by the hair, threatening to drain her dry in front of her friends. Would he have done it? That was the question that had been wracking her brain, and she couldn’t seem to find a definitive answer to it either.

“Forgive me.” He urged in that quiet, seductive voice making her dizzy in the head.

Before she could muster words, his mouth was on hers again, sucking softly on her lower lip. Bonnie was putty in his pliable hands as he molded her to his will. Tantalizing fingers left her hair and slid down, over the slight curve of her breasts, and to the dip of her petite waist. She shivered and moaned into his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her against him. She wrapped herself around him like a koala bear without a second thought. Thoughts weren’t really working for her at the moment anyways. Her back hit the bed and Damon was on top of her, pressing his weight into her just enough so that she could feel every inch of his body. Bonnie slipped her hands into his hair and marveled at the silkiness of the strands as they ran between her fingers.

Holding his weight on one elbow, Damon’s free hand reached back and curled around the thigh circling his waist. Slowly, he dragged his hand up her bare leg, across the sleep shorts bunched at her hip, and over each rib at her side. Heat pooled in Bonnie’s stomach as his hand continued travelling upward. Dangerous digits glided passed the bunched material of her camisole and over one small, perky breast before sliding along her neck and into her hair. Bonnie arched into him, breathing his name against his lips in between a kiss. He groaned and slipped his tongue into her mouth, growing lightheaded as her flavor permeated every crevasse of his being. Their kisses grew sloppy and Damon was losing himself by the second. After some self-motivation, and a few failed attempts, Damon broke their kiss and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block her out…to collect himself.

Tears returned to Bonnie’s eyes as she sensed his imminent departure.

“Don’t go,” she begged in a broken whisper.

Damon opened his eyes to see a slightly disheveled and watery-eyed, young witch. He pushed away from her and sat on the edge of her bed with his head in his hands.

Desperate for him to stay, Bonnie sat up and brushed her hair away from the left side of her neck, gathering it into a side pony-tail.

“Y-You can drink from me. Just please don’t leave.”

Damon looked over his shoulder at her. She was breaking…because of him. He had gotten her addicted to blood sharing, he had put her in danger, and now he had put her in emotional turmoil by kissing her.

With a defeated sigh, Damon laid back onto her bed and let his head hit her pillows. He looked down to her and reached a hand out. Bonnie crawled over to him and cuddled into his side. His arm snaked around her petite frame and held her close. A mess of curls tickled Damon’s chin as she rested her head on his chest. The last few tears in her eyes trickled from her luscious lashes and soaked into Damon’s shirt.

The older Salvatore raked his free hand through his hair and let the back of his head hit the metal rods of the headboard. His eyes lifted to the ceiling cloaked in darkness. What a mess. He felt Bonnie’s warm little body cuddled further into him. Her leg bent and snuck over the top of his only slightly. She was still nervous with him, unsure of their boundaries. Damon could hear her pattering heart beginning to slow as her exhausted body dragged her into the stillness of sleep. He watched her eyelids flutter before finally closing for the night. Her breaths became deep and slow as she lay half on top of him, her arm stretched out across his chest. He remained awake for a while, thinking, before her comfort lulled him into a peaceful slumber.

Stefan kissed Elena awake as the sun beamed through the parted curtains and illuminated his room. The blonde beauty smiled as bright as the sun and Stefan told her he was going to go make her breakfast. Elena nodded, telling him she’d be down in a bit. She had to go through her routine: make the bed, shower, and get dressed.

Stefan threw on a basic white t-shirt and trailed out in his plaid pajama bottoms. Closing the door behind him, the previous night’s events popped into his mind. Where was Damon? He sent out a small radius of power, in search of Damon’s location, or even just a response. He wasn’t all that confident that Damon hadn’t gone to do exactly what Matt had instructed.

Nothing.

That made Stefan very nervous. Maybe he was still asleep somewhere. His elder brother did like to take his time waking up. Still, the fact that Damon was sleeping in meant he had had a busy night. Doing what though? That was the million-dollar question that made Stefan very, very anxious.

He continued into the kitchen regardless. His duties to Elena would come first on this bright morning. Besides, he had had enough of the drama Damon carried around like a posse. Maybe he had actually gone away for a while like Stefan had suggested. That would be nice. Or…maybe Meredith had seen where Damon went, he hoped as he saw her in the kitchen with a cup of coffee on a coaster and her laptop in front of her as she sat at the table, fully invested in whatever she was researching. Her undergraduate degree was certainly demanding, he noted. This was her usual spot when she pulled all-nighters. Coffee to keep her going, and a vigorous work ethic. It was the perfect set-up. If anyone knew Damon’s whereabouts right now, it would be her.

“Meredith?” he asked, grabbing her attention.

A slightly jittery Meredith looked up at Stefan over her laptop screen.

“Yeah?”

“Have you seen Damon?”

“Not at all. Nor do I want to.” She added, mostly to herself, as she turned her attention back to her school project.

“After I talked to him last night, I never saw him again.”

“Good riddance!” Meredith muttered.

Stefan sighed and quickly whipped up some pancakes, all the while obsessing over where Damon might be, what he might be doing…

Elena skipped joyfully over to her favorite vampire, kissed him in thanks, and took the giant stack of pancakes and syrup over to Meredith. She knew her hard-working friend would be hungry after her night of rigorous research. Stefan watched her delight as drowned the pancake in syrup and took a big bite.

Now…to find Damon.

“I’ll be back. Just going to do a quick check around the house for Damon.”

Elena threw a worried look at him, “he’s missing?”

Stefan shrugged nonchalantly, “It’s nothing serious. Just haven’t seen him after last night. Wanted to make sure he’s not painting the town red. You know Damon.”

Elena rolled her eyes.

“Be careful,” she pleaded, her eyes deadly serious.

Stefan gave her a reassuring smile, “You know I will be, love.”

“Just yell if you need us.” Meredith added.

Stefan nodded at her gratefully and took off with his vampiric speed. Let’s see, Matt was—well, he assumed asleep in his own bedroom. As was Bonnie. But after last night…maybe he should check on them. After all, Damon had threatened them both.

Matt’s room was closest. Stefan pressed his ear to the door and heard loud snores. Yeah, that was Matt for sure, alive and well. On to Bonnie. Speeding further down the long hallway, he reached Bonnie’s room and pressed his ear to the door. Soft breaths could be heard, definitely Bonnie’s, but then a secondary breath rattled his ears. It was gruffer, and deeper; the breaths came much slower as if the person didn’t actually need them.

In alarm, Stefan swiftly opened the door. His eyes widened as they locked with his brother’s annoyed ones. Bonnie made soft noises of unrest as she squirmed and cuddled deeper into Damon’s chest. Damon ran a hand over his face and blinked sleepily.

“You know, we don’t all have the same ‘rise and shine’ attitude, Stefan. Some of us like to sleep in.”

“What is this? What did you do to her?” Stefan growled beneath whispered tones, his green eyes filled with fury.

Damon rolled his eyes.

“Nothing she didn’t want.” He assured, his signature smirk growing across his lips.

“Did you drink from her?!” Stefan’s voice rose as he took a step forward.

Bonnie squirmed again and Damon shushed her, running his fingers through her curls until she relaxed again. Stefan watched, his face painted in a mix of confusion and wariness.

“Would you not disturb her please? She’s been in and out of sleep all night.” Damon whisper yelled at the obnoxious younger Salvatore.

“Answer the question!” he demanded, lowering his voice back down to a whisper.

Damon gave a sleepy shrug, “I wasn’t exactly hungry last night.”

That equaled a “no” in Damon speak, Stefan knew. He relaxed a little, but not enough…

“Did you compel her then? To do something…”

A devious chuckle rose from Damon’s throat, “How often do I really have to compel women, little brother?”

Stefan gritted his teeth as his brother’s blatant overconfidence. But again, that meant “no.” As much as his cockiness was horribly annoying, he was right. Damon didn’t have to compel his victims most of the time. But that didn’t make the things he did right.

Damon could see the wheels turning in his brother’s head. He was, no doubt, coming up with all kinds of unspeakable scenarios of what he, the monster, had done to the delicate little Bonnie McCollough. Just as Stefan opened his mouth to ask another ridiculous question, Damon stopped him.

“I came here after our talk—"

“The talk where I specifically told you to leave Bonnie alone…” Stefan cut in with scolding eyes.

Damon ignored his brother’s reproach, “I came here to apologize to her. She slapped me, we—talked, and it got late.”

Stefan studied the situation with a laser focus, his brows were pulled down in hard lines over his scrutinous, pine orbs. He cupped his chin between his thumb and forefinger. That “thinking man” statue came to Damon’s mind briefly.

Stefan gave a breathy, humorless laugh and shook his head.

“So what’s the next move here? You—" Stefan rose his hands to make air quotes. “’talked’ to her and then decided to sleep next to her all night in her bed…”

“Stefan, right now, my next move is to end this pointless conversation.”

Stefan’s eyes narrowed until they were slits, reminding Damon of a snake as the piney color gleamed in the light of the room.

“So you’re playing with her emotions…”

Damon groaned inwardly and threw his head back. His hand came to his hair, grasping a fistful and pulling slightly.

“For God sakes Stefan, can you just get out of the fu-“

Elena and Meredith appeared in the doorway, their worried eyes going so wide that it was a wonder they didn’t fall out. Elena gasped, her hand going to her mouth in utter shock. Damon cursed under his breath and slammed his eyes shut. Banging his head back onto the headboard once and ground his teeth.

Bonnie stirred.

“What the shit?!” Meredith shouted, astonishment plastered on her widened features.

Bonnie started awake and jerked upright into a sitting position. Her eyes matched her two friends’ then, but they began to fill with tears. How long had they all been here?!

Damon’s eyes rolled hard at the loss of her warmth against him. It had been the only thing keeping him calm. He sat up as well, ready to diffuse the situation.

“Damon!”

Elena’s voice cut into him like a knife in the heart. He had never meant for her to see. He flinched and turned to face them all as he stood from Bonnie’s bed.

“Damon…” Bonnie’s unsteady voice called.

On instinct, he reacted and reached for her, wishing only to comfort her. He didn’t want to see her cry, and especially not because of the chaos Stefan had caused.

Before he could touch her, Meredith slapped his hand away and shoved passed him. Damon flinched once more and let out a frustrated breath, glaring daggers at the olive skinned girl who asserted herself in his place next to the crying redhead. She mistakenly took Bonnie’s tears for fear, assuming Damon had done something bad to her last night.

Bonnie, still a little groggy from sleep, didn’t know what to say. Her brain wasn’t awake enough, and with all the commotion, she couldn’t form a single sentence. All she knew was the ache in her chest at the thought of losing him.

“Are you hurt?” Meredith questioned, looking Bonnie over for some sort of mark or wound.

She lifted Bonnie’s hair from either side of her neck, checking for bites. Bonnie was grateful that Damon always healed her after their tristes. She glanced up at Damon through watery eyes and he shot her an apologetic look.

“He didn’t feed from her.” Stefan offered Meredith and Elena solace.

Elena sat down next to Meredith and Bonnie.

“Then why…” Elena trailed off, looking at Damon with lapis eyes that flooded with betrayal.

“What in God’s name is going on?” came a new, masculine voice.

Damon could never catch a break.

Matt’s crystal-clear pools of blue darted from the girls huddled around Bonnie, to the redhead’s upset expression, to Stefan’s disapproving face, and finally to Damon, who stood in the corner of the room with an air of irritation. That was it, he had had enough. Without a second thought, Matt went for Damon, chest puffed and arms held out in preparation to land a powerful blow.

Stefan caught the heated boy and held him back rather easily.

“Matt, just calm down-“

Matt turned on him, practically foaming at the mouth.

“Calm down?! He was with her, Stefan! He did something to hurt her! I doesn’t take a PhD to figure that out!”

“But apparently it takes one to not jump to conclusions.” Damon added coolly.

Matt shook Stefan off him, “You expect me to believe that this bastard did nothing to her?”

“Matt, I’m fine!” Bonnie spoke up, pleading for him to listen among the chaos.

Matt spun around to face the tearful one.

“I’m fine.” She reassured.

“He only came to talk last night. He was apologizing. We just got tired. That’s all…” she trailed off, her voice going softer as a soft blush rushed to her cheeks.

 _Thank you_ , came Damon’s voice in her head.

Bonnie looked to him and gave a quick smile, but it never touched her eyes.

Matt’s fury faded, and Elena looked up to Damon.

“I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.” She looked to Meredith, urging her to apologize.

Meredith groaned and looked over at Damon, “I’m not really sorry. You put her in danger just last night, what was I supposed to think?! But I guess I’m sorry for being so protective.”

Matt swallowed hard and met Damon’s narcissistic smile.

“Thank you for taking care of her.” He muttered between clenched teeth.

In a way, he was glad. Things could have been a lot worse.

Damon took a few deliberate steps closer to Mutt.

“It was my pleasure.” He quipped, wearing the proudest of all smirks.

Anger flashed red in Matt’s vision and he threw a punch headed straight for Damon’s jaw. Damon caught his fist effortlessly and squeezed hard. Matt groaned out in pain.

“Damon, stop it!” Stefan yelled as he reached for Damon.

Damon shoved him away.

“Damon!” all the girls seemed to shout collectively.

He picked out a couple of the voices. One elegant and commanding, the other small and beseeching. Slowly, he loosened his grip, but not before a loud crack echoed throughout the room and sent Matt gritting his teeth in pain as he tried with all his might to remove Damon’s hand from his.

“You’re lucky the girls are here.” Damon hissed and pushed the sweaty Mutt back into Bonnie’s dresser.

Elena ran over to attend to Matt as Damon stormed from the room. Bonnie watched with downturned eyes as the vicious vampire who had her heart left with it.

“Damon…” she breathed, jerking forwards as if to go after him.

Meredith gripped her by the upper arm, gaining her attention.

“He’ll be ok. Just give him some space.”

 _Damon, are you ok?_ She projected.

No response was given.


	8. Steamy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself…this is a long one, and I’m so excited for you guys to read it!! A lot happens in this chapter. Hope you guys love it!

Bonnie had been worried about him all day. The rest had gone on about their day, but she was still stuck in her bedroom late in the morning. How different she had pictured waking up next to Damon. She had been trying to reach him all day. She would call for him every hour on the hour. There had yet to be a response. With how impulsive she knew he could be, there was no telling what he was doing right now. When she got a moment to herself that evening, she took it.

She marched out of the boarding house and into its backyard. Wildflowers grew all over on each side, and a small opening into the woods wasn’t far off. She entered it, determination never faltering. Fallen twigs bent and snapped beneath her high-top tennis shoes. Grass tickled her ankles, making her uneasy to the tiny crawly creatures that could reach her from the sheer blades. The forest was thick as she made her way toward a small clearing just ahead. She ducked and dodged as she crossed over and under protruding tree branches and tall, unkempt weeds.

Finally reaching the small circle of the clearing, she plopped down onto a tree stump and started the telepathic process. She was not going to leave there until he answered. She could feel his presence by the distant cawing of crows and the faded wisps of fog that seemed to follow her every move.

_Damon, I know you’re here._

She waited.

_Answer me._

Still nothing.

_I’m not leaving here until you answer me._

A bee buzzed too close by her head and she shrieked, swatting at it. Swallowing her fear, she planted herself onto the stump.

_Please! Just tell me where you are!_

She froze as a branch snapped near her.

She swung her head around, “Damon!”

A deer stood frozen, looking awkwardly away from her. Bonnie sighed and turned back around, defeated.

_Please talk to me…_

She waited for around 20 minutes for a response before she felt a rise of anger. Standing from the tree stump, she pulled at the hems of her jean shorts to fix them and yelled.

“Screw you Damon Salvatore!”

“I bet you’d like that.” His voice came from behind her.

Bonnie gasped softly and spun around eagerly. Her bright eyes dropped to confusion as she saw nothing but the trees, a squirrel, and a few birds pecking the ground in search of worms and other bugs. Casting her eyes left and right, she analyzed each place and then turned back around, a frown on her plump lips.

She screamed as her vision took in a fit, dark form inches from her. A large hand quickly clamped over her mouth. Her screams quieted as she recognized him. Damon chuckled, watching the realization dawn on her heart-shaped face. He dropped his hand from her mouth and stepped back.

“You called?”

He expected a shove, a slap, to be yelled at. Instead, he was greeted in the form of her small stature clinging tightly to him. Her thin arms wrapped around his narrow waist. Her cheek pressed against his chest. She breathed in deeply, relief flooding her system. Damon slid his arms around her slowly, reluctantly. Eyes caught in a whirlwind of worry and relief gazed up at him from beneath long lashes.

“Are you ok?”

He was amazed at this little bird, so selfless, so pure…

“Fine.” He answered simply, shortly.

Bonnie stepped back from his arms, sensing his distant tone. She wrapped her arms around herself. His coldness was chilling.

“Why didn’t you answer before? I’ve been calling all day.”

“I’ve heard.” He added quickly.

“I wanted to be left alone.”

Bonnie nodded once, “Ok.”

His annoyance with her seemed to be building by the second.

“I was just worried about you after what happened this morning. I wanted to check on you.” Her voice was small, meek, afraid of irritating him further.

Damon seemed to flash a smile, but she could barely catch it with her human eyes.

“You really need to stop worrying about me, Bonnie. Besides…you’re the one who’s hurt right now.”

This caught her attention, and she quickly looked down at herself, holding her arms out and flipping her hands over, once—then twice.

“Your ankle.”

She looked down and twisted her leg around to get a better view of the appendage. Sure enough, her right ankle was scraped up from…something. She must have skinned it across something walking in here. Tiny trickles of blood were beginning to drip from the wound.

“You should get back inside. The woods are no place for a maiden.”

Bonnie could barely think straight. Her mind was spiraling in a mix of numerous emotions, images, and auditory memories. She couldn’t quite focus on one as her train of thought was rapidly switching tracks. Was Damon mad at her? Why was he being so distant? She was stupid coming here. Would the others notice she was gone? Would Damon ever be the same with her again, or was this going to be their new normal?

Bonnie nodded mindlessly, almost in a daze, and started walking back towards the boarding house. She stopped after a few feet and looked back at Damon.

“You coming?” her voice was unsteady.

She wasn’t sure if she was asking if he was coming home now, or if he was ever coming home again. She was terrified he would disappear at any moment. Was now the last time she would ever see him again?

Damon squinted slightly, “Well they can’t exactly see me coming in with you, now can they?”

He nodded at her, “Go. I’ll catch up.”

With that, Bonnie watched him jump into the sky. He transformed into a black mass that shook and shapeshifted for the briefest of moments before a large black crow emerged into the partly clouded skies and soared upward. A small smile played at her rosebud lips. She picked her feet up to begin walking again. Halfway, she stopped and dug her nails into her leg. She stared down at her ankle with an intake of breath that sounded only of sibilance.

_Keep moving, Redbird. Ignore the pain. You’ve done it before._

There was something in Damon’s tone that made her blush. An image of his fangs sinking into her exposed throat played in her memory. A loud caw startled her from her reminiscing as her eyes shot up to the source of the sound. In a very high tree branch was a large raven perched and watching her closely.

 _I’m going!_ She sent, accompanied by a grumpy pout. She knew he could see it perfectly.

As she reached the backyard of the bustling house of drama, Bonnie took a deep breath and prepared herself for an interrogation. Another caw echoed through the skies and she looked up to see it gliding through the air until it flew off into the distance. He would be back later, she assumed. She hoped even harder. He was always one for dramatic entrances, but after today, maybe that wasn’t so true anymore.

Slipping inside the house through the sliding screen door, Bonnie took extra measure to close it as silently as possible. Do _not_ draw attention to yourself! Just get to the bathroom to clean up. She turned after hearing the soft click of the door latching shut. Making her way passed the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Matt sitting at the table eating a sandwich.

“Hey! Did you come from outside?”

Just keep cool. Don’t make it a big deal.

“Yeah. Just needed a little fresh air after today.”

No! Don’t remind him of Damon! Bad move, bad move…

Matt smiled apologetically, “I get it.”

He stood from his chair and slowly made his way closer to her as he spoke.

“I’m sorry for being such a dick, by the way. I know I’ve caused a lot of drama for you. I just-“

He cut himself off, taking a deep breath and clenching his fists.

“I just can’t stand Damon, Bon. He’s such an arrogant ass and he talks about you in the most vile manner. It just—it gets under my skin. I don’t mean for it to, but he’s constantly challenging me. I know I should just let it go, but I feel like I need to defend you or something. I-“

Bonnie put a hand on Matt’s muscular upper arm, halting his rant. She smiled sweetly at him.

“Thank you for defending me.”

Matt smiled back at her. She hissed and dug her nails into her leg again as the wound acted up, stinging with all its might. The blonde football star quickly took notice of the scratches above her ankle.

“How did that happen?” he pointed to her wound.

The suspicious in his tone did not go unheard in Bonnie’s ears.

“I just scraped it against a log or something, I guess. I really don’t know.”

Matt shook his head, seeming to clear it of something, and scooped her up in his arms.

“Let’s get you fixed up.”

“Matt my ankle is bleeding not broken.” she giggled.

He started walking toward the hall bathroom.

“I know, but when else will I get to show you my superb first aid skills?! You know, when I was in the boy scouts I got a badge for it.”

Bonnie threw her head back and laughed as Matt set her down onto the counter.

“It’s true!” Matt defended, with a laugh bubbling from his own lips.

“Ok then, Mr. Honeycutt, lets see these fine first aid skills of yours.” Bonnie teased in a mock serious tone.

Matt bent down and pulled a large, red first aid kit from underneath the sink. Kneeling, he sprayed some disinfectant on the wound first. Bonnie winced a bit.

“Hang in there.” He encouraged.

Pulling out a cotton swab, he broke open a small packet of Neosporin and swiped it over the scrapes before carefully placing a band aid over the scratches. He examined his work for a moment and then stood up.

“The bandage isn’t exactly covering it completely, but it’ll do. It’s good to let it get some air anyways.”

Bonnie studied his work and gave an approving hum.

“Not bad. Thanks, Matt!”

Matt stared into her glowing brown orbs, “You’re welcome.”

They smiled at one another for a lingering moment before Elena called out loudly.

“Guys! I have take-out!”

Paper bags rustled as she set a bunch down in the kitchen. Matt stepped back from Bonnie, suddenly awkward.

“Uh, yeah. Better go grab something to eat then. I’m starved.”

Bonnie was confused but smiled anyway, “Alright. I’ll be there in a few. Gonna clean up first.”

Matt gave her one last smile before excusing himself and walking off toward the kitchen. How could he possibly be hungry again? He was already halfway into a sub when she walked in. Throwing the wonder from her mind, she hopped down from the counter and walked upstairs to her room.

Stepping inside the dimly lit room, she smiled at the sunset peaking through the sheer curtains covering the window. The ivory walls bathed in the salmon coloring of the sky, illuminating everything in a peachy hue. Grabbing a set of clean clothes, Bonnie walked into her bathroom and set the shower to a temperature just below scalding. As the steam began to fill up the room, she stripped off her top and let her bottoms slide to the floor. She reached around to unhook her bra but was cut by a small creaking noise that sounded like the door she had just shut. Stiffening, she looked up to the foggy mirror to see a blurred figure coming in. She turned to protest, but she saw no one. The door was closed again. She began to think she was hallucinating when a hand clamped around her mouth from behind her. Before she could scream, a muscular arm had wrapped circled around her center and locked her to, what felt like, a half-naked body. The arms walked her quickly backwards and practically yanked her into the shower. She was about to fight, try to squirm free from the iron hold, anything to get away from this predator.

Lengthened fangs pierced her skin and dug into her throat at the same moment a bleeding wrist replaced the hand covering her mouth. It shoved its way into her mouth through parted lips and Bonnie could only whimper as the pleasure crept up on her and dragged her under. Her eyes rolled and fluttered shut as she willingly surrendered to the vampire furiously drawing blood from her body and into his own. Her fever matched his own as the wild part of her clawed its way to the surface and turned her into an animal similar to him. She couldn’t get enough of his taste; the coppery, sweet taste that he held in an intimate reserve for only her. It was her drug.

Damon peaked his eyes open under heavy lids clouded by that hot feeling setting every crevasse of him on fire. The little redhead was helpless to him, he could hear the tiny sound of pleasure emanating from her mouth as her tongue danced in red velvet. A growl rumbled low in his throat and he bit harder, burying his fangs as deep as they could go. The slight body against him shuddered and he let his splayed fingers run across her body. He followed the stream of blood staining her pale skin red: over one soaked bra cup, further down across her silk stomach, and to the curve of her protruding hip bone where he gripped tight. The helpless girl flung a hand backward to grab onto any part of him she could find, needing something to ground her to reality. Her delicate hand landed on the waistband of the material covering his lower half and fisted in it.

The heat of the shower kissed their bodies until they were both burning, and Damon couldn’t keep up with the amount of blood pouring from Bonnie’s veins. Her overheated veins were dilated and pulled to the surface of her skin, engorged, and rushing with the sweetness of Damon’s addiction. His drinking was rapid, but her blood was surging from the wound beneath his mouth. From two slits, Damon caught sight of the shower floor flooded in a bright red river. He wasn’t sure his blood was sufficient suddenly. Pushing down the monster urging him to continue, Damon wasn’t about to have to face all their friends, not to mention his dear brother, if Bonnie emerged from this shower with a set of fangs and a new thirst for human blood.

Ripping his lips from her, he reluctantly sealed the punctures and let her suck on his wrist for a few seconds longer, lingering in the remnants of satisfaction he felt from watching her drink from him. Her plump lips were soft around the slice at his wrist. Although she was sucking hard, even biting at times, the silkiness of her mouth wicked away any sliver of pain she created. The soft swipes of her tongue across his breached skin kept the fire within him simmering even longer. Above all that, her sounds pounded against his ear drums and stirred his desires. Each one made his head dizzy and kept him falling further and further into his primal form.

Taking his wrist from her mouth, Damon sealed his own wound and held Bonnie’s weight as he let her come down from her high on cloud 9. Her head lay limp against his chest. Her curls were weighted, damp from the moisture in the air, and plastered to the sweaty skin around her face. Damon followed the blood trail from her neck, down her body, and to the floor. The sight should have been horrifying to him. She had lost so much blood. It was still trying to wash down the drain. But it only made him lustful. Pulling himself from sinful thoughts, he realized his gaze was locked onto Bonnie’s chest. The alabaster mounds half covered by a red-blotched bra rose and fell with each hard breath she took. His hand balled into a fist as he fought the sudden urge to slip his fingers between the tiny lifts where the cups hovered over the small swells of her breasts.

Coming to, Bonnie peeled her moisture-stricken skin from his and surveyed the shower. The walls were smeared where their hands had touched, desperate for anything to hold onto before they completely lost themselves. The floor had streaks of blood that would need to be sprayed with more pressure to uplift. The water around the drain was still tinged red. Looking down at herself, the left cup of her bra was completely dyed red while the other remained blotchy. As for her underwear, the hipster panties that were once beige had new crimson stripes. She wobbled a bit, feeling the extra loss of blood Damon’s own hadn’t been quite able to cope for. Strong arms caught her, steadying her.

She turned to face Damon for the first time since he had attacked her. Intending to look at his face, her eyes immediately fell to his attire. Her heart gave a hard thump in her chest as she saw a very prominent outline of Damon’s…jewels through his already fitted boxer briefs. The black bulge made her heart flutter, and suddenly she felt dizzier than ever. With Damon’s hands on her arms, holding her upright, she gulped and turned her eyes to his. The longer midnight strands of his hair were damp and plastered across his forehead, letting the rest be ragged and disheveled over his onyx eyes. Any ability to speak words left her as his eyes bore into hers with an intensity that shook her soul.

Damon’s serious face relaxed as a smile tugged at one corner of his bloodied lips. His tongue darted out to lick his lower lip and Bonnie recalled what that tongue felt like sliding against her own. She swallowed a build-up of saliva as her mouth began to water.

The amused vampire took a gentle handful of Bonnie’s hair and sifted through the curls with his thumb. It was sticky with her blood. He moved his hand to her jaw, letting his knuckles glide along the soft line of her jaw. Bonnie shivered. Licking his lips to take in more of the sweetness that lingered there, he caught her bottom lip under his thumb. It bounced as he let his opposable digit slip from it and trace the trail left down her chin. Bonnie stood still, trying to keep her breaths calm while letting him do as he pleased, but her mind was racing with a million questions at once.

His hand dropped from her face and she took an unsteady breath. He offered her a kind smile before reaching behind her to raise the water’s temperature. He directed her backwards until she was underneath the shower head.

“We need to get you cleaned up.”

To her surprise, Damon reached above her head for the correct shampoo bottle. She had two different ones that she alternated between, but one that she preferred over the other. He flipped the cap and squeezed a glob into his hand.

“How did you-“

“Your hair almost always smells like lavender and the other one smells like strawberries.” He answered easily as if someone had just asked him what two plus two is.

Bonnie couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. He really paid that much attention to her?

Damon pulled her from the water with his free hand before rubbing his hands together and slathering the glob of shampoo all over the top of the curious maiden’s head. Bonnie giggled as Damon began gently massaging her scalp, making sure to get every inch. Not only was she showering with Damon Salvatore, but he was also washing her hair for her. She had never seen Damon perform any act of caretaking for someone other than himself. Yet, here he was. How much more unexpected could this day get?

“Am I doing something wrong?”

Bonnie laughed again, “No, I’ve just never seen you wash anyone’s hair for them before.”

Damon bit down on his lower lip but smiled despite himself. He let out a small chuckle.

“Shush.” He said, touching a dollop of suds onto her button nose.

Bonnie giggled, her eyes sparkling with childish mischief.

Damon held up a stern finger at her, “Don’t you dare, Miss McCullough! I’ve got to get this blood out of your hair before you rejoin the others. Especially Stefan. Boy has eyes like a hawk.”

Bonnie huffed, “Fine.”

She continued to let him scrub her hair and soon melted into his ministrations as his soothing fingers sent shivers down her spine. She never wanted to wash her own hair again. Perhaps this was the real cloud 9.

Too soon, he was done.

“Rinse.” He ordered and turned to grab a washcloth.

Bonnie took the opportunity to scoop a glob of suds into her hand. Damon turned back to her and she smacked the suds into the side of his face. The sudsy vampire froze, his face transforming from defense, to irritation, and finally settling on coldness. Bonnie’s childlike giddiness dissipated as he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was hard and she waited. Was she about to get reprimanded? Should she apologize? Oh god, she had made a huge mistake…

Damon slowly wiped the suds from his face with the cloth in his hand. He took two steps toward her until he was a mere inch from her. She stared up at him with nervous brown orbs as he spoke.

“You know something…” he began slowly, his demanding gaze holding hers.

Before she had a chance to react, Damon had scooped up his own handful of her shampoo suds and smacked it into her face.

“You, Bonnie, are a bratty little girl…”

Bonnie’s mouth was left in a small ‘o’ as she looked to Damon with one eye, the other being covered in soap. All coldness had faded. Instead, he looked rather satisfied with himself. His eyes swirled with playful deviance. It was her turn to make a move.

With a quick swipe of her hand, she gathered the suds from her face and prepared to sling them at Damon. He easily caught her arm before she could reach him. He chuckled lowly at her attempt. Bonnie pushed on, trying to get passed him in order to land a soapy hit. But of course, he was much too fast, even though she could feel him greatly holding back in order to give her a fair chance. They play fought for a good, few minutes, both laughing. Damon on the defense and Bonnie on the offense. At that moment, Damon wasn’t too sure if he found Bonnie’s aggressive attempts to smite him amusing or the ironic swap of roles.

Finally, Damon had her wrists in either of his hands and had backed her into the water stream. With enormous ease, he lifted her sudsy hand into the water, washing it away with the rest of the shampoo on her head.

“You lose.” He stated simply, teasing her.

Bonnie pouted and Damon chuckled at her appearance. Her wet hair hung down around her in straightened strands much longer than her usual ringlets. She looked like a very fluffy dog who had just gotten forced into a bath.

She pushed her hair back from her face, letting Damon see its full beauty. Her big brown pools were framed by those long lashes, currently dotted with miniscule droplets that made her eyes shine even more than usual. Her lips were fully blossomed into their pretty pink that made her look reminiscent of a porcelain doll. Her lips shined like her eyes as the leftover water gave them a glossy sheen. Her cheeks were flushed, for once, not because of him, but naturally due to the heat of the shower. She was gorgeous.

“What is it?”

Her thick, red brows quirked in concern.

Damon shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, now completely wet in some places.

Bonnie took note of Damon’s appearance then, not that she had ever forgotten it. It’s just, in this very moment, she was seeing him as she never had before. His hair was half wet, black strands tousled in waves on his head. Tiny drops of steam had gathered across his skin and condensed to form wetness across his face. Small droplets fell from his sharp jaw line, the tip of his nose, and his very full lips.

Damon came at her with a washcloth, breaking her train of thought. He wiped at the stubborn areas where the blood had still not fully come off. Bonnie still couldn’t concentrate on anything but how different, how beautiful he looked as he rubbed at a spot just beneath her lips.

Damon caught wind of her line of sight and slowed his movements. He was about to question her wellbeing, snap her from whatever thought she looked so intent on, but she was on her tip toes in an instant. Her lips hit his.

Bonnie wasn’t sure what she was doing, or when she had gotten so bold. She had wanted to kiss him a million and one times before, but she had never, would never act on such a crazy impulsive thing.

None of that mattered now as her hands raked through his wet locks and felt the drenched strands hug her fingers as she went along his scalp. Damon’s reactionary shiver gave her all the encouragement she needed to continue and not run mortified from the situation she had just created.

Damon quickly took control of the kiss and lifted her up. He pinned her against the shower wall as her legs wrapped themselves around his waist. He deepened their kiss, parting her lips with his so he could dip his tongue in to taste her. Bonnie hugged herself to him as tightly as she could manage, her fingers still combing through his hair. The water flowed down between their faces, their mouths, their bodies, washing them clean of any leftover evidence remaining from their exchange.

Damon began sucking on her neck, pulling blood so close to the surface he could almost taste it again. He began to nip at the place he was sucking and Bonnie moaned a little too loudly. Damon pulled back and threw a hand over her mouth, his eyes wide. Bonnie’s eyes shot open, matching his. He turned his head to listen for others. Sure enough, footsteps were trailing down the hallway towards them.

“I’m sorry.” Bonnie whispered as he looked back to her.

Damon dropped her feet back to the shower floor with all the quietness he could manage, but kept her pinned to the wall. Taking her face in his hands, he turned her head up to his as he dipped down to capture her lips once more. Bonnie melted into him as Damon kissed her hard, savoring every second as if it would never happen again. Part of her drowned in sorrow at the way he kissed her and the possible implication behind it. She held on tight to his arms, willing herself to have the strength to keep him there. She never wanted to lose him.

The awaited knock on the door sounded, but Damon barely pulled away, his lips still ghosting hers. He had that look in his eyes, the one that had every intention of stealing another kiss.

“Bonnie?” Elena called.

Damon’s eyes shot to hers and Bonnie knew she had lost him then. She wanted to grab Damon and kiss him even harder, pull him back to her, make him forget about Elena and his feelings for her. She wanted to do it front of Elena, just to spite her. She wanted to storm out of the shower and scream at Elena for interfering with their moment, her feelings, her relationship with Damon. But oh, Elena was her best friend, and she loved her; and how could she blame Damon for having feelings for her? She was beautiful!

Tears burst in Bonnie’s eyes and began streaming down her cheeks, blending with the shower’s water droplets collecting on her face.

“Bonnie?” Elena called again, worry laced in her voice.

Bonnie cleared her throat in an effort to erase the lump and make her voice more steady.

“Yeah?” she called through the bathroom walls, her voice as steady as a rock.

“I just heard a weird noise. Never mind.”

Damon turned the shower off, a grave look of guilt and confliction plastered in his eyes.

“Let’s dry off.” He said, his voice lost of all emotion.

Bonnie did her best to hold back her tears as she flicked them from her cheeks and stepped out of the shower after Damon.

He held a towel out to her and nodded to her ankle.

“You’re going to need to hide that.”

Bonnie glanced down to see her scrape completely healed, as if she had never had one to begin with.

“Mutt had no idea what he was doing with that bandage anyway.”

Bonnie’s gaze shot up to his, “You were watching.”

“Observing” he corrected.

“Any way, you can go run back to him now. I’m sure he’s waiting for you.” Damon mocked, his voice dripping with contempt.

Bonnie shook with rage. How dare he say such a thing to her? Him, of all people!

“And you can go back to Elena! She’s probably waiting for you—or Stefan,” Bonnie spat, practically seething.

Damon was in her face in a second, every element of his vampiric nature showing, threatening her. Bonnie only barely flinched, the tears in her eyes spilling over with every blink. Damon studied her face and his vampiric state faded, leaving an icy cold glare in its wake. He stayed for a moment, letting her feel the power he had to rip her throat out, the intent to do it too…

He turned from her and threw his towel down, “Clean the fucking bathroom up before you go down to eat anything.”

With that last harsh command, Damon had walked back into her room and flown out the open window.

Bonnie fell to the floor in tears, sobs spilling uncontrollably from her lips.


	9. Games

The next morning Bonnie woke up clutching the small brown bear Matt had bought her for her 18th birthday last year. An arm plunged outward from beside her and an elbow poked deep into her ribcage.

“Ow!” Bonnie whined, recoiling from the hard hit and shoving the slender arm away.

Meredith’s green eyes were in slits as she stared angrily at Bonnie.

“Go back to sleep” she demanded groggily.

Bonnie rubbed at her side at swung her legs over the side of the bed. That was her cue to get up.

Meredith had found her last night in the middle of a crisis, curled up on the floor in a blanket soaked with tears. She had lied to her best friend, telling her that the reason for her state of sadness was because she felt guilty over what had happened with Damon. It wasn’t a total lie. She did feel guilty, just not over the things Meredith and everyone else knew about. Like the amazing person she is, Meredith had comforter her; she had brought her dinner on a tray and then had a mini sleepover with her, even though Meredith’s room was just down the hall. It meant a lot to Bonnie. As she stretched and gave her sore ribcage another rub, she looked back at Meredith with a smile.

Her long limbs were stretched out and bent in the oddest position. Her dark hair was a tangled mess on her head and splayed all over her face like a squirrel’s nest. Small snores fell from her parted lips and rattled in Bonnie’s rounded ears, irritating the red-headed girl who had been hearing it on and off all night long. Scrunching her face, Bonnie chucked the teddy bear at Meredith, hoping it would shut her up. Meredith jumped a little and made a loud groaning sound that came off as more of a warning. She had never been a morning person. With a little laugh, Bonnie got up to change into a navy blue camisole and a grey pair of sweat-shorts. She tied the drawstring at her waist and slipped on some pink and blue knee-high socks.

Wriggling through the narrow opening, Bonnie quietly closed the door behind her. Tip-toeing down the wooden stair case, she focused her hearing with each soft touch of her socks to the floorboards. She heard Elena’s musical laughs. She was sure Stefan was whispering sweet nothings to her. As she neared the kitchen she froze when she heard his voice.

“You asked for a flower. I provided.” His voice was light, subtly sultry, playful.

“Damon, that doesn’t even resemble a flower!”

Tears sprang in her eyes. She thought about running straight back to her room; her appetite suddenly vanishing. No, she wouldn’t be afraid. In, get cereal, out. She could do this. But she didn’t know if she was ready to face him.

Forcing herself to take the remaining steps forward, she meekly entered the kitchen filled with a musical mix of their laughs. One high pitched and melodic, the other tuned low and sexy. Avoiding all eye contact with Damon, she shuffled over to the pantry to grab cereal—any cereal.

“Bonnie you have to come look at this!” said Elena.

Bonnie sighed internally and sheepishly turned around to face the blonde beauty smiling from ear to ear.

“Come look at this pancake that Damon made! I asked for a _flower,_ keep in mind.” She ushered Bonnie over with a wave of one French-tipped hand.

Muster her courage, she pulled a fake smile to her lips and went over to examine the flower pancake. She could feel Damon’s eyes on her, studying her, probably scrutinizing her every move, probably laughing at her nervousness. Her heartbeat quickened by the minute and she hated that he could hear it.

The “flower” was nothing but a circle with bumpy edges as Bonnie bent over the plate and forced a short giggle.

“Yeah, it looks—” she paused, suddenly worried about offending Damon further. “It’s not the best.”

She chastised herself for even caring about what he thought in the first place.

“See!” Elena poked her tongue out at Damon over her shoulder.

Bonnie remained still with her back turned on Damon as she heard him slide from his place on the other side of the island and walk toward them. She felt the material of his shirt ghost the backside of her arm as he leaned forward. The muscles in his arm flexed beneath his skin as he reached around her. As if on instinct, she held her breath, her heart doing a marathon in her chest. He grabbed a spoon laying on the counter in front of her and pulled back.

He held it out to Elena and leaned close to her as she grabbed for it. He kept his fingers locked tight around the metal utensil as she encircled her flawless fingers around it. He held her gaze in his, their fingers grazing.

“Let’s see you make a better one.”

The blush that grew on Elena’s cheeks was unmistakable, even in Bonnie’s human eyes. Vampire hearing wasn’t needed to notice the shakiness of her next breath. Her flustered state was apparent to anyone that looked at her.

Damon’s signature smirk lifted a single side of his mouth and Elena’s gaze fell to his full lips as he released the spoon from his grasp.

“I will.” Elena spoke confidently, offering Damon a flirtatious smile.

Elena turned back to the griddle and Damon’s smirk didn’t disappear from his lips as he turned to look at Bonnie. It wasn’t a flirtatious smirk. It was a cocky one. He was showing her, proving to her that he could have Elena if he really wanted. There was no argument either, because Bonnie knew he was right. If he pushed her just a little harder, she would give into him. But that would mean stealing something precious from his brother…

Blinking tears from her eyes, Bonnie’s brows lowered over her eyes as she glared at the malicious vampire in front of her. Her face was hot, but not from anger. Her heart pounded from the pain. The eyes she looked into were cold, detached, and his smirk grew into a devious smile, pushing her further into that broken feeling from last night. Right then it hit her, he had heard her cry. He knew how she was feeling and he was glad. He wanted her to be in pain, he wanted her to break down, because she had hurt him. But she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

Damon put a hand on Elena’s lower back and massaged her skin with his thumb. She shivered at his touch.

Bonnie spun around, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to muster her depleting strength. A wave of nausea captured her stomach and she felt queasy as she stared up at the cereal boxes in the pantry. Slamming the door shut, she stormed out of the kitchen. Her fingers latched around a packet of fruit snacks from the counter on her way back to her bedroom.

Elena jumped at Bonnie’s sudden hastiness and stared after her with widened lapis eyes.

“What was that about?”

Damon shrugged at her side, “who knows?”

Bonnie slammed the bedroom door shut behind her and slid down it until she was a ball of broken sobs on the floor. She held a hand over her chest, her fingers digging into the skin there.

Meredith jumped up instantly and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Smoothing her hair back from her face she looked over to Bonnie, about to ask what was wrong, but then the image of the little redhead cleared in her drowsy eyes. Her face was red and glistened with tear tracks all over. Her nails dug into her chest that heaved up and down. She looked as if she were having a panic attack. Meredith threw herself onto the floor in front of her broken friend.

“Bonnie! What is it? What happened?” she asked, her large green eyes frantic and darting from place to place on Bonnie’s body, trying to figure things out.

Bonnie shook her head, sobs spewing from her swollen lips.

“D-Damon, he-he’s downstairs. He’s with Elena. I can’t—”

Meredith hastily sifted through the clues in her head, but confusion painted her expression.

“Ok. Damon’s downstairs with Elena? Did you see something happen? Is Elena hurt?” she asked calmly, her cat-like eyes serious as they stayed trained on Bonnie’s.

Bonnie shook her head again and shut her eyes; the corners crinkled in agony. Little whimpers sounded from her lips as she pressed her head back against the door.

Meredith needed answers.

“Ok, Bonnie, take some deep breaths with me. Come on.” She urged.

Bonnie followed Meredith’s breathing technique through her tears as she watched her friend take in a deep breath and then slowly release it. They did this a couple times until Bonnie’s sobs were manageable. The small girl wiped her face.

“Alright, lets start again. What happened? Explain it to me. Please.”

Bonnie looked into Meredith’s steady eyes and felt a small sense of calm. She could do this, but how? How was she going to explain this? Should she even try?

Her voice wavered as she spoke, “Damon is downstairs in the kitchen with Elena.”

Meredith nodded, urging Bonnie forward, “yeah, I got that part.”

Bonnie threw her hands up to her face and cried a little harder, “we kissed.”

Meredith’s brows scrunched over her worried lime orbs and she thought back about the past few weeks.

“When did this happen?”

Her voice was level, not raised, much to Bonnie’s surprise as she dropped her shaky hands from her face and into her lap. She kept her eyes down on her wet fingertips.

“Which time?” Bonnie looked up to see Meredith eyes bulge.

Her tanned friend took a deep breath, no doubt to keep from yelling or reprimanding.

“So this has happened multiple times?”

Bonnie nodded.

“When did it start?”

“When he was in my bed that morning. He had kissed me that night.”

Meredith drew in another deep breath. Bonnie noticed the muscles in her jaw clenching.

“It’s been happening ever since then?”

Meredith’s voice was a little more strained…or restrained maybe. Bonnie wasn’t sure if she should go on. Maybe this was a mistake.

“Only once. He kissed me again in—” she cut herself off.

Meredith’s brow quirked, suspicion rising in her eyes.

“In my room. Last night.”

Silence permeated the room and Bonnie’s eyes went wide as she realized her mistake. She slapped her hands over her mouth and stared at Meredith.

Raising her brows quizzically, she said, “You mean while he was supposedly gone from the house?”

Bonnie could see the cogs turning in her mind.

“And that’s why you were upset last night.”

Bonnie stayed silent, only sniffling.

“So let me guess, he kissed you and then he acted like nothing happened? And now he’s downstairs with Elena and probably flirting with her because its Damon. Am I right?”

While it wasn’t the whole truth, it was close enough, and it kept their blood sharing safe from dangerous ears. Bonnie nodded.

Meredith shook her head and threw it back to stare at the ceiling. She laughed in disbelief and groaned, “What the hell is so special about Damon?!”

The tall girl let herself fall back onto the floor, where she raked her hands through her brunette locks.

“Listen, I know he’s gorgeous Bonnie, I do. I have eyes. But he’s such a dick!” straining her neck to look up at Bonnie, she threw a manicured hand out at her, “Exhibit A!”

She let her head hit the floor and sighed, “Bonnie, you have to know he loves Elena, right?”

Her eyes peaked down to see Bonnie nod slowly.

“And that Elena still loves him too?”

Meredith watched the tears fall down Bonnie’s flushed cheeks silently.

“I know.” Bonnie admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

Meredith traced the outline of the ceiling fan with her eyes, “Don’t you think that’s a big red flag? A guy who can’t let go of his feelings for someone else’s girlfriend, let alone his brother’s girlfriend, is never going to be able to give his heart to you.”

Bonnie began to sob silently and Meredith sat upright again, crisscrossing her legs.

She placed a hand on Bonnie’s leg, “This is why I hate him so much. He plays with your feelings, Bonnie. He doesn’t care if it hurts you either…do you understand? He literally only ever thinks of himself first!”

Bonnie didn’t answer. Her shoulders shook as she cried, her head in her hands. Meredith scooted closer to her friend, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. Her anger for Damon was reaching a new peak. He had done this to her without even thinking what pain it was cause her as soon as he ran back to Elena. He didn’t deserve her, or Bonnie…especially Bonnie.

Meredith battled with herself for a moment before pushing herself up from the floor. She walked over to Bonnie, “Get up!”

Bonnie looked up at Meredith’s outstretched hands through watery vision. Slowly, she took Meredith’s hands, confused by her sudden change in mood. She was yanked to her feet a moment later and staring quizzically at her best friend.

Meredith looked to the ceiling again, “God, I hate myself.”

She looked to Bonnie with determination and took her petite friend by the shoulders.

“Listen to me Bonnie...” Meredith took a steadying breath, annoyed with herself for what she was about to say.

Bonnie waited curiously, wiping her tears.

“I’m not going to tell you to go after Damon, because honestly I think you’d be much better off with a nice guy like, I don’t know, _Matt!_ But I’m your best friend, and I’m not about to let you sit here crying when there are plenty of better things to do. For instance…”

Meredith dragged Bonnie over to her vanity and shoved her in front of the mirror, standing just behind her.

“Damon may be a vampire, but he definitely has human interests.”

Bonnie looked at Meredith’s reflection, “like what?”

Meredith rolled her eyes, “Sex, Bonnie!”

The red-head blushed furiously.

“I’m sure you’ve felt it from him when he’s kissed you, right? You’ve felt that desire lingering in him? I know it’s there from the way he looks at you.”

Bonnie thought back to those forbidden thoughts only briefly.

She twiddled her thumbs together bashfully, “I-I think so.”

Meredith nodded once, “Then use it.”

Bonnie wore a mask of confusion as she stared at mirror Meredith.

The taller girl huffed and took hold of Bonnie’s shoulders again, “Look at yourself. You’ve got cute, perky boobs; you’re thin; you have a little waist and a cute butt. Your hair is red and curly. You have big eyes and long lashes. You’re beautiful, Bonnie! Of course Damon notices. He’s incredibly attracted to you.”

Bonnie was dumbfounded. Damon really thought of her that way? Before she could find the words to protest, Meredith was speaking again.

“So don’t cry over the asshole; use that sex appeal in your favor and make Damon miserable.”

“How do I do that?” Bonnie asked innocently.

“Be yourself. He likes you just how you are. Just maybe bend over in front of him a little more or something.”

Bonnie laughed and Meredith followed.

The red-headed girl sniffed, “What is this supposed to accomplish, Meredith?”

The dark-haired girl shrugged, “Honestly, nothing but getting even and cheering you up. He wants to hurt you by sharing his feelings, you show him what he’s missing. Cuddle up to Matt a little more.”

Meredith nudged her and winked playfully.

“So come on, dress in that cute oversized tee I got you!” she said, patting Bonnie’s arm.

Bonnie sifted through her tops and reached for a bra. Meredith smacked her hand.

“Uh uh!”

Bonnie looked up at her in horror, “You want me to go braless?”

“The top is loose and thin, no one will be able to tell you aren’t wearing a bra unless you jump. It creates an air of mystery that guys can’t resist.”

Bonnie threw it on and let Meredith tie it in a cute knot on one side to show off her slight curves.

Bonnie’s cheeks were on fire as she stared at herself in the vanity mirror. She gulped, “What pants?”

Meredith ran over to Bonnie’s closet and shifted through the clothes, “Hmm…these!”

She proudly held up a pair of, very short, distressed, black shorts. When had she even gotten these?! Meredith must have done it on one of her shopping sprees. Taking a deep breath, she built up her bravery and shimmied on the shorts. When she glanced in the mirror again, she was shocked to see how…exposed she looked, yet covered at the same time.

Meredith clapped excitedly, a huge smile on her face. She held out a hand to Bonnie, “Now! Let’s add just a slight touch of makeup.”

Bonnie emerged from the bathroom 20 minutes later with a slight coat of mascara volumizing her long lashes, a dab of foundation covering the redness from crying, and a touch of clear lip gloss making her plump, red lips glisten.

“Now get your butt downstairs!” Meredith pointed toward the bedroom door.

It was nearing noon when Bonnie trailed down the stairs with Meredith in tow. Damon’s voice echoed from the living room and Bonnie looked back at Meredith, who gave her an approving nod. Swallowing hard and pulling at her shorts, which could easily show everything she had with one wrong move, she steadied herself and walked into the living room.

The flat screen TV Meredith had convinced the Salvatore’s to get hung on the wall. Damon was playing against Elena in Mario Kart. By the looks of it, he was winning. Odd, he was better at something so…technological than making pancakes. The pain in Bonnie’s heart surged as Damon playfully tried to reach for Elena’s controller to mess her up.

“No! Play fair!” she shrieked through a laugh.

Meredith came in and sat down on a couch adjacent to them.

“Where’s Stefan?” she asked suspiciously.

Elena didn’t catch the tone, “He went with Matt to take his car to the dealer this morning.”

“Oh, ok.” Meredith answered and looked over at Bonnie, who was lingering on the outskirts of the room.

“Just walk by” she mouthed.

Shaking off her insecurities, Bonnie walked right in from of Elena and Damon and sat down next to Meredith. Before Bonnie could look up at the screen, Elena squealed.

“I win!” she shouted victoriously, throwing her arms into the air.

Bonnie looked over at them only to catch Damon’s gaze. His brows were low over his eyes as he stared at her like she had lost her mind.

Reluctantly tearing his gaze from hers, he feigned a smile to his precious blonde princess and hugged her tight, lifting her from the couch and twirling her. Bonnie looked at Meredith; the olive-skinned girl could see the tears building in her chocolate orbs. Maybe exposing Bonnie to this again so soon was a bad idea…

To her surprise, Bonnie chased her tears away and stood from the couch.

“I want to play!” she announced and walked right over to grab a controller off the mantle, giving Damon a good view of her backside.

Meredith studied Damon with scrutinizing eyes as she caught his gaze running down Bonnie’s body like fingers itching to memorize the shape of her. She noticed his eyes drop to her bottom and suddenly his eyes were heavily lidded, lustful. His tongue slipped out to languidly lick his lips. The intensity of his reaction made her uneasy. She wanted Bonnie to get back at him, not become one of his victims.

Bonnie sat down next to Meredith again and Meredith watched as the girls raced against Damon, rooting for her two closest friends. Why wasn’t Matt back by now?! This whole idea had been meant to bring Bonnie closer to _him_ and away from Damon.

A few hours later, Bonnie’s stomach was growling aggressively. Skipping breakfast had caught up with her. In the kitchen, she was making herself a PB&J when Damon walked in and sat down at the island in front of her. He rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. She glanced up at him from under her lashes only to see his eyes narrowed at her. She continued spreading the jelly on her slice of bread.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a sandwich.” She responded simply, holding up her finished sandwich to show him.

She turned her back on him and bit into her PB&J. She almost choked when Damon appeared directly in front of her. He snatched the sandwich from her hands and threw it down onto the plate.

“Hey!” Bonnie protested, reaching for her food.

Damon caught her wrist in a tight grip and pulled her closer to him. He leaned down to look her in the eyes. Bonnie’s heart sped up again as she felt his breath fanning over her lips.

“You know what I’m talking about, Bonnie.”

All too familiar rage pushed her response right past the part of her brain that filters her mouth. She ripped her wrist from Damon’s hold, surprised to find that he let her.

“Why are you even in here? Did Stefan come home?” she challenged.

Damon snarled at her.

Matt walked into the kitchen, “Hey Bonnie, Meredith told me I’d find you in he-“

“What are _you_ doing in here?” Matt spat, his mood flipping from light to dark in a second.

Bonnie knew he was working hard to hold back his anger at the looks of the situation. Damon was still very close to her. She opened her mouth to give the standard ‘nothing’ response, but Damon’s hand clamped down around her chin, slightly squishing her cheeks between his thumb and forefinger.

“This” Damon hissed.

The impulsive vampire angled Bonnie’s face upwards, and she caught the devilish glint in his eyes right before he smashed his lips to hers. A moan slipped from Bonnie’s throat as her heart mended a few of the tiny cracks he had made there. Damon kept their kiss cold and purposeful. But a quick caress of his thumb over her cheek told her it wasn’t completely an act. It was an excuse to kiss her as much as it was a show to piss Matt off.

“You bastard!” Matt roared, attracting the attention of the rest of the house.

His voice kept Bonnie from losing herself, and she pushed away from Damon only to see him smiling menacingly at Matt. Humorous hysterics burst from his mouth as he laid a hand on his chest and threw his head back in laughter.

Meredith was the first into the kitchen, closely followed by Stefan, and then Elena.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Stefan asked incredulously at his brother, walking over to Matt to keep him from doing anything dumb.

“Why is it always chaos with you?!”

Meredith stormed over to Bonnie and took her by the arm, dragging her away from the psychotic vampire with a glare that could kill.

Elena was at Matt’s other side, trying to calm him down.

“He kissed her! Right in front of me! Like she’s nothing more than a plaything! He just used her without a second thought!” Matt yelled.

Meredith threw her hand up to her forehead and fisted it. Had she caused this chaos? Was all this her fault? She was the one who told Bonnie to dress like this, of course Damon would do something impulsively stupid. Technically, he could do whatever he wanted with her, which was even more terrifying. Oh, why couldn’t Matt have just gotten here sooner?!

“Damon, seriously?!” Stefan was exhausted with his brother.

“Oh, come on! It was too easy! I had to take the opportunity.” He stated and waltzed out of the kitchen right past the angry mob.

The tension didn’t ease much until Bonnie’s stomach growled loudly.

“Can I eat my sandwich now?” she asked.

Bubbles of laughter began to sound like a domino effect from each of her friends’ mouths. One by one they relaxed and all the tension faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all loved it! I think you guys are really going to enjoy what happens next because it’s such a different and unexpected setting for our beloved VD characters! ;)


	10. Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post 2 chapters since it's been a bit since I posted here. Hope you all like it!

That evening they all sat around the coffee table in the study. Everyone was on the floor. Stefan had ordered each of them to be there, only having to threaten Damon twice before he reluctantly showed up. The younger Salvatore was calling an intervention of sorts due to the constant amount of chaos occurring between them all. They were going to work it out right here, right now. That’s what Stefan’s goal was anyway. The deal was that they would each take a turn answering honestly and no one was allowed to respond in any way. They each could say how they truly felt, no consequences, and then let it go, never to be revisited. Stefan was determined to eradicate the animosity in the house. So here they all sat. At one end of the rectangular table was Stefan, at the other end Meredith. On one side of the table sat Matt and Bonnie, on the other side…Elena and Damon.

“Ok,” Stefan began, “because we all have to live with each other, and Elena is opposed to kicking Damon out of the house, we need to learn how to keep the peace. So I have some things written down and we’re going to go around and voice our opinions, thoughts, and feelings to get everything out in the open and off our chests.”

Damon groaned and rolled his eyes. Elena smacked his arm with the back of her hand.

“I’ll go first” Matt growled, glaring at Damon.

“No! I will decide who speaks first!” Stefan raised his voice at Matt like a parent scolding a child.

Stefan read off the sheet in his hand, “I hate it when…”

“Meredith, you start.”

Taking a deep breath, Meredith began cautiously, “I hate it when I always find Bonnie crying over something Damon has done.”

Meredith shot Bonnie an apologetic look as Matt’s dagger eyes locked onto Damon. But Damon was glancing at Bonnie with an expression she couldn’t read.

“Matt…”

Matt ground his teeth and tried to find a calm part of him to hold tight to, “I hate it when Damon is around Bonnie. He’s always toying with her somehow and pulling her into his schemes. She’s always the one caught in the crossfire, and he doesn’t even give a shit.”

Damon bit his tongue hard until he tasted a small drop of his own blood.

Bonnie put a hand on top of Matt’s clenched one. They locked eyes and she gave him a small smile of appreciation. Matt offered a small smile back, her touch calming him. Truth be told, he was always looking out for her. She really should give him the recognition he deserved.

“Thank you, Matt. Ok, Bonnie.” Stefan announced.

Nerves coursed through Bonnie at the sound of her name leaving Stefan’s mouth. She wasn’t ready to speak yet. Her vision was blurred with tears as she looked over at Stefan, “Can you come back to me?”

She felt Matt flip his hand and lace his fingers with hers, giving her delicate digits a light supporting squeeze.

Stefan sighed, “Bonnie, I’d really appreciate it if you went next. We all need to participate for this to work. No one will hold anything against you. You can hold me to that.”

Bonnie took in an audibly shaky breath, “Ok. Um…I-I hate it when—when…”

She glanced over to Matt, who mouthed “you’ve got this.”

Balling her free hand into a fist while the other tightened around Matt’s calloused fingers, she looked up to Damon. His full lips were in a straight line, eyes blank, expression emotionless.

“I hate it when you’re mad at me and you say mean things and you ignore me. It hurts when you ignore me and I don’t like feeling that way. You’re able to make me think you care so easily and then you take it all away…”

A few tears rolled down Bonnie’s cheeks as she paused to take a breath, “I hate how I’m always your second choice when I try so hard to be your first. But most of all, I hate that I understand your struggles and always forgive them, because you mean so much to me and I just want you to be happy.”

The room was silent and motionless as everyone looked from Bonnie to Damon, and back again, each one at a loss for words.

Elena could feel Damon practically vibrating with suppressed emotion. But she couldn’t tell if it was out of anger or agony. Yet, to the human eye, he remained completely still and solemn. She touched her fingers to his where they lay fisted against the floor. Damon blinked once, twice, but kept his eyes locked on Bonnie. A pit of something like worry dropped in her stomach.

Hastily wiping her tears away, she saw a flicker of something stir up in Damon’s black depths before it fizzled out and he was guarded again. The tiny pang of hope within her heart diminished and she hung her head down, letting more tears drop onto her pale legs.

Matt was the first to move, reaching an arm around Bonnie’s small frame and pulling her gently into his side. He waited for her rejection, allowing her to give him her consent, but the rejection never came. She scooted into Matt’s side and balled herself up beneath his strong arm. Matt rested his arm around her, not too tightly so she didn’t feel obligated to stay, and she let her tired head rest on his shoulder.

Stefan glanced over to his brother and caught the tiny muscles in Damon’s jaw straining. He was clenching his teeth, hard. He let his eyes travel passed Damon to Elena, who looked back at him with the utmost concern for the older Salvatore.

Stefan sighed softly and turned back to the note in his hand. Hopefully they could get through the rest of this quickly.

“Ok, uh. I hate it when everyone in this house is fighting. We’re all friends and we all love each other, no matter how hard it can be sometimes. We’re a team, and I want us to act like it.” Stefan said before looking to Damon.

Damon glued his gaze to the table in front of him, “I hate it when my time is wasted by stupid shit like this.”

He twisted his head around to meet Stefan’s angry eyes, a smirk plastered on his lips. He narrowed his eyes at his brother, challenging him to say something, anything so he could have an excuse to beat his ass.

Everyone remained quiet though, even Matt, respecting Stefan’s rules and the purpose of the meeting.

Stefan ripped his gaze from his brother’s and cleared his throat.

“Elena…” he called sweetly.

“I hate it when I second guess myself.”

Everyone looked suspiciously at Elena, weighing the implications of her vague answer. The blue-eyed beauty averted her gaze to her hands in her lap. Stefan cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Thank you, love. Alright, um…next statement.”

“Something I want to see improve is…” Stefan read out loud and Meredith began again.

“I want to see all this drama improve. I’m tired of seeing everyone crying and angry and hearing everyone yell at each other over dumb shit. So as far as I’m concerned, everyone needs to let go of their attachment to Damon, because he’s always the source of the problems between people in this household. I’m sorry, Elena, I know you want him here, and I admire your patience and care, but that’s how I feel and it needed to be said.”

“Love you too, Meredith” Damon goaded, shooting a sharp wink her way.

She threw up her middle finger.

“No talking!” Stefan rapped.

Damon rolled his eyes.

With an exasperated huff, Stefan nodded at Matt to proceed.

“I have to agree with Meredith, but I’m willing to give Damon a chance for Elena. If he shows improvement in his treatment of Bonnie and myself. So I want to see Damon’s behavior improve, basically.”

Damon snorted but remained silent. He threw his head back into the seat cushion of the antique chair he was leaning against, ready for this to be over.

“I want to see everyone’s judgement improve. Just about everyone here spends so much time judging Damon and blaming him for everything that they lose themselves in all the anger. He does a lot of bad things, but he isn’t a bad person. I just want us all to focus less on pointing blame and more on trying to understand.” Bonnie said in her small voice.

Each of the friend’s glanced at each other guiltily, except Damon who kept his eyes on the ceiling.

“My turn. Alright. I want to see everyone’s mood improve. Everyone is so filled with some sort of negative emotion all the time, it seems. I just want all of us to be happy.” Stefan said.

Damon didn’t lift his head from the chair to speak, “I want this house to improve. You know, some renovations to my room would be nice. A bigger bed, maybe.”

He lifted his head from the seat cushion and looked at Bonnie, a smirk already permanent on his lips.

Meredith scoffed and Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. Bonnie felt Matt stiffen and she put a hand on his chest. His rough one took hold of hers tightly, using it for comfort.

“Or maybe a nicer bathroom, with a shower big enough for two.”

It was Bonnie’s turn to stiffen. Her eyes darted to Damon’s in alarm. She wasn’t too sure of anything about him right now, which meant she definitely didn’t know how far he was willing to go. Anxiety coursed through her body. Matt sensed her tension and rubbed her arm.

Damon let his head fall back with a plop onto the leather cushion, satisfied with himself.

Elena spoke up next, “I want to see improvement in our friendship, Bonnie. I feel like we often get disconnected from one another’s lives, which is ironic since we all live together. But I feel like Meredith is often there for you more than I am, which I want to work on. But I also feel like there’s a lot that you tell Meredith that you don’t share with me, and I’d like that to change also.”

Bonnie smiled at her fair friend and Elena returned the sentiment.

Stefan, feeling like they had accomplished something, if only minor, clapped his hands together and stood from the floor.

“Well I think I’m going to wrap things up there. I think we all got a lot out in the open tonight and really accomplished something. Hopefully, we won’t need to do this again. I’m thankful for everyone’s participation. Now, let’s all respect what was said here, let it remain here, and go our separate ways.”

Damon was the first to rise, and he quickly stomped from the room.

Bonnie left Matt’s side to go to Elena and hug her tightly. Meredith stood and the two girls pulled her in to join their hug. Stefan smiled at the interaction. His smile faltered as he looked to Matt, who seemed deep in thought and distraught by whatever he had found there.

Bonnie tossed and turned in her bed. Her confession at the table replayed over and over in her mind. Damon’s face wouldn’t leave the images. They refocused harder and harder on Damon’s stoic expression until it became so clear in her head that it was all she could see. He hadn’t said anything, done anything, he had barely even moved as she sat there practically pouring her heart out in front of him, in front of everyone. Her own words rang loudly in her ears, driving her crazy.

Bonnie threw the pillow pressed over her head off of her and sat straight up. New words rang in her mind, mixing with the ones currently plaguing her thoughts, doubling the anguish. She had twice mocked him over the subject he was most sensitive on. Twice. She had said something so insensitive to him. Both times, she had brought him pain, intentionally too. She hadn’t even said sorry.

She had decided then, at nearly 3 o’clock in the morning, what she had to do to get any sleep.

Hopping down from her bed, she slipped on a pair of fuzzy socks and snuck out of her room. Making it to the end of the hallway where Damon’s room was gated by a sleek set of black, double doors, she hesitated. She placed her hand on the cool, glossy panels, mustering up the courage to knock. With a deep breath in and out, like Meredith had shown her, she pulled her hand back from the door and curled it into a small fist. Just before her knuckles could hit the door, Damon’s voice rang in her head.

_Just come in._

She jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion, and her heart skipped. A small part of her had been hoping that Damon wouldn’t answer so she could rush back to her room and try again some other time. But he had heard her coming. Now she had to face him.

Bonnie’s breath stuck in her lungs as she quietly pushed one of the two doors open just wide enough for her to slip through. Softly shutting the door behind her, she turned, pressing her back against the cold panels. She shivered. Her eyes adjusted to the tiny lamp in the far corner of Damon’s room, lighting the room with the dimmest yellow glow, like a candle flame. Still, it was enough to make her self-conscious. She had untied the oversized t-shirt she wore from early so now it functioned like a very baggy, but very short dress. Boy-short panties laid beneath, the hems probably peaking out from underneath the shirt-dress. They would certainly be noticeable. The silky white of the underwear would contrast visibly from the deep purple tee.

All worry of her attire dissipated as her eyes focused on Damon. He lay shirtless in his California King-sized bed. The comforter was folded neatly at the foot of the bed, the silvery sheets lay tangled around his legs. His raven hair was in disarray as the waved locks splayed around him on the fluffy pillow. One hand tucked behind his head made the muscles in his arm bulge more than usual. Bonnie’s eyes traveled downward involuntarily. His broad chest raised slowly up and fell back down just as lazily, every slight movement making his abs all the more prominent. She followed the definition all the way down to the V peaking out from beneath the sheets.

“Why’d you come here?” Damon asked groggily, wiping his eyes.

Snapped from her admiration of his appearance, Bonnie’s mission came back to the forefront of her mind and dread came creeping back into her stomach. Not giving herself time to chicken out, she forced the words from her mouth.

“I’m sorry.” She blurted.

Damon let out a long, exhausted sigh and wiped his hand down his face, a silver band around his middle finger caught the dim lighting.

She continued before he could cut her off, “For what I said before…the things about Elena. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of it. It was inconsiderate and mean.”

Bonnie sniffed, her own tears betraying her. She hadn’t been counting on crying. Regardless, she kept going.

“I’m so sorry! I don’t want to hurt you. I just got upset and—” she was interrupted by her own small sobs.

She stared at Damon, being granted no responsorial expression of any sort. He made no sound, said not a single word. She was about to turn and leave, unsure of what else to say.

The hand with the silver band lifted from the bed and reached out to her, palm up, ready to take her hand in his. Her heart thumped violently and she took a few timid steps forward. Crawling across the bed to him, Damon took hold of her as soon as she was in his reach, and with a few effortless movements she was on her back beneath him. Her pulse raced until Damon reached up to her curls, twirling the ringlets around his long fingers. His eyes followed the movements of his fingers in her hair, allowing Bonnie free reign to study his face. Her heart calmed to a steadier rhythm as the fingers fiddling in her hair became soothing.

The mesmerized red-head thought back to Meredith and what she had said. Damon had human desires. He had those desires for her. It was in the way he kissed her, in the way he looked at her. Moving her gaze up from his lips, she searched his eyes. They were calm, dark, but something dangerous swirled deep within them. It drew her in. She wanted whatever that something dangerous was, even though she knew she shouldn’t.

Damon’s eyes flicked to hers suddenly and she couldn’t do anything to break it.

“I don’t consider you my second choice.” He admitted, his voice wrapped in softness.

His head dipped down as if to capture her lips with his. Just as the tip of his nose ghosted hers, he restrained himself. Bonnie’s breath caught in her throat.

“Then what am I to you?” she asked a little breathlessly, reflexively staring down at his parted lips.

His eyes flitted down to her lips and he tilted his head to the side as if readying himself to kiss her. He dipped his head down only a centimeter before catching himself and stilling his movements. Normally, Bonnie would be sure he was just teasing her at this point. Except there was no smirk on his lips, no mischievous sparkle in his eyes. Obsidian eyes held hers beneath midnight lashes.

“My weakness.” He confessed in a voice so low it could have been a whisper.

Every muscle in Bonnie’s body froze as she stared at him in disbelief.

“Y-your weakness?” she breathed, barely able to form the words.

Damon let a long sigh escape from his parted lips before pushing himself away from the stunned red-head. Bonnie sat up, looking after him as he rested his forearms across the tops of his bent knees. His face painted a tale of turmoil as he battled with something deep inside himself.

“You need to go back to your room. Before the others find out you’re in here.”

Bonnie was befuddled, “Since when do you care about what they think?”

A deep burst of disappointment ached in Bonnie’s heart as the answer pieced together in her mind.

“You don’t care what they think. You care what Elena thinks…”

Damon whipped around to face her, “Yes! I care about what Elena thinks. I don’t want to hurt her. I don’t want to hurt you either!”

Using inhuman speed, he whooshed around to her side of the bed. In the blink of an eye, her face had been taken in his hands, forcing her to look into his pitch-black orbs.

“Yes, Bonnie. I _do_ play with your feelings! I can make you upset, confused, flustered…I can make you want me. I know how to make you feel _exactly_ as I want you to _when_ I want you to. I’m a master manipulator. It’s in my nature. And you can hate me if you want, but let me let you in on a little secret…”

Damon paused, tears springing in the dark crystals Bonnie couldn’t look away from.

“…I try so _fucking_ hard not to hurt you. But you’re _always_ around me! I see you everywhere, every. single. day. I smell your scent all over this house. I hear every noise that you make. And I can’t _help_ it!” he growled, releasing her face from his hands with a hard shake.

Bonnie reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“I want you just as much as I want _her_! But I can’t have either of you without hurting the other!”

A single tear fell from Damon’s eyes as his chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, “You’re not my second choice. You’re an impossible one.”

Bonnie stood from the bed and went to him, wanting nothing more than to comfort him. She reached for him and he stepped back as if her touch were poisonous. Her arms fell defeatedly back to her sides.

“What’s even worse is that both of you have someone better for you.” He gave a short, humorless chuckle at the irony.

Bonnie’s brows furrowed in confusion.

Damon tilted his head and shook it, “You have to know Mutt likes you…”

Bonnie let her eyes fall shut, hot tears spilling down her reddened cheeks. She balled her fists up and stomped once. She was so sick of Matt being thrown at her.

“I don’t want Matt!” she shouted, frustrated.

His gaze turned hard, “That’s why you sleep with the stuffed animal he got you then?”

Bonnie felt like she could rip her hair out right then. She wanted to scream. It was nothing! It was just a teddy bear. It wasn’t a big deal! But how could she possibly make him believe that? She knew that stony gaze. He had already made up his mind about it. Explaining herself would be useless. So she said the only thing she could think of to make him understand.

“I want _you!”_ Bonnie blurted, moving toward him.

“I lo-“ His hand clamped over her mouth. She looked up to him to see his eyes filled to the brim with more tears. She had never seen him look so broken.

“Don’t.” he said sternly, swallowing hard.

She watched his jaw clench as he stepped back from her, dropping his hand from her lips. She knew that was it. There was nothing left to be said, nothing that could be said. But questions sprinted through her mind, one after the other. She couldn’t catch a single one long enough to focus on it, let alone speak it.

The room had fallen silent, and Bonnie’s thoughts were scrambled every which way. Attempting to dry her eyes, it took everything in her to turn away from him. But she did. The ache in her heart intensified with each step she took. When she reached the bedroom door, she looked back. He hadn’t moved. His face was vacant. The guard was back up. Sucking in a shaky breath, she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

A loud cracking noise sounded from Damon’s room once she reached her bedroom door. Her feet automatically took two steps back toward his room, but she forced the reflex still. She fought against every urge she had to go back and opened the door to her room instead.

The sun had gradually lightened the sky into a pretty shade of ice blue. Bonnie was still awake, thinking until she was overthinking. Her mind refused to shut off. If she wasn’t replaying their conversation, thinking of all the things she could have said, wondering if the outcome would have been different, she was recalling the sound. What had he broken? Was he ok? And then she reminded herself that he was fine. He was a vampire, after all.

“Bonnie…” his soft voice startled her.

She propped herself up on one elbow, looking toward the window. He practically fell to his knees at her bedside. The tears rolling from his eyes were unmistakable.

His voice was stable as he spoke but laced with a brokenness that pierced her heart.

“I know you’re upset with me. But my head won’t shut off, and I—I just…” Damon trialed off, unable to find the words, and too mentally exhausted to try.

His fisted a hand into her comforter. He felt like he was about to explode, but a soft hand touched his with all the gentleness of a feather. His gaze locked with hers, pleading wordlessly.

Wrapping her fingers around his upper arm, she tugged. Damon took the cue easily and crawled into bed with her. She scooted over and held the sheets back so he could get under the covers with her. He lay on his back and held his arm out so she could cuddle into him. Too tired to ask questions or protest, Bonnie let herself fall into his side, where she fit like a perfect puzzle piece.

Damon held her close, reveling in the feel of her curls brushing his chin. Her petite body molded to his, her leg curling over one of his strong thighs, her hand on his chest just over his heart, and her cheek pressed into his pectoral. He could feel her heart beating steady and strong against his ribcage. Some sense of peace filled him, calming the storm in his head. In seconds, his eyelids became heavy and closed. He drifted off with her, his little piece of serenity.

Damon awoke a few hours later to that insufferable brown bear lying on his chest. It was almost as annoying as Mutt, looked like him too, with its oversized head and puffy body. He took it by the neck and chucked it across the room. It hit the wall with a thud and fall face first into the floor. Damon smirked, satisfied at the sight of the incapacitated bear.

The smirk fell from his face in a flash as he looked back down and met Bonnie’s eyes, wide open and glaring at him.

“Why did you throw Puffers?!”

“You named that thing?” his brows raising inquisitively.

Bonnie huffed and got out of bed to pick up her bear. She kissed his head and hugged him close to her chest. Damon ground his teeth, looking on in disdain.

She sat back on the bed with her back to Damon and Puffers in her lap. She straightened his fluff out, pulling it back from his hard, round eyes.

“If you’re going to be mean, then go.”

She was still upset with him. Sleep hadn’t fixed that by any means. But Damon was already up and examining his reflection in her vanity mirror.

“I do need to go actually. Stefan and Meredith are awake.”

Bonnie pouted as she rested her chin on top of the bear’s head. He passed her on his way to the window, and she shot up, throwing Matt’s bear onto the bed. Her feet padded across the cold hardwood floor and she reached, catching his forearm. Damon turned back to her, one hand on the windowsill.

“You—you can um, come back here tonight if you want. You know, to s-sleep.” She twiddled with her thumbs.

A smirk formed on Damon’s lips and he nodded over her shoulder to the bed, “Then the bear has to go. Can’t have two men in your bed, redbird.”

He bent down and placed a quick kiss to her cheek before jumping from the window. Gravity ignored him as he transformed into that shiny-feathered raven Bonnie knew all too well and flew up into the sky.

She huffed and looked back at her favorite bear; her brows pursed over unsure chocolate irises.


	11. Dilemmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for a 3 chapter update, just cause I wanna. :)

Bonnie made her way downstairs for breakfast in short shorts and an old purple t-shirt. Her curls bounced around her face as she strolled into the kitchen and opened the freezer. Chocolate chip waffles called her name. Her brows furrowed. The box was missing. She shifted other items around and…nope. No chocolate chip waffles. A small frown grew on her face.

Come to think of it, she smelled something awfully similar to her chocolate chip waffles. Looking to the toaster, she walked over to it and reached out. Heat emanated from the metal appliance. It had been used recently. She shuffled around to the other side of the kitchen, mostly closed off by wall. She peaked her head through the archway to see Matt at the table. He was crunching away on something.

“Matt?” Bonnie called out.

Matt turned around, brows raised and one of his cheeks puffed up with the food he was chewing. In his hand was…her waffle.

“Matt! Those are my waffles! You ate my waffles!” she shrieked.

Damon walked into the room with a newspaper in hand. He still had a few habits of the everyday ninety-year-old. Bonnie thought it was cute how he held onto little habits from each era he had lived through.

“What happened?” he asked innocently, pretending as if he hadn’t already heard.

“He ate my waffles!” Bonnie shouted again, pointing a finger of blame at a very bewildered Matt.

His blue eyes were wide as saucers at the sudden accusation from Bonnie.

Damon tsk-ed and shook his head as he sat down at the head of the dining room table.

“Oof! Every man knows not to eat a woman’s waffles…” he jabbed at Matt, smirking to himself as he opened up the newspaper.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know they were yours!” Matt said, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Those were my favorite!” Bonnie whined.

Damon threw his newspaper onto the table and leaned over it.

“Mutt, how could you? Those were her favorite.” He jabbed again, feigning offense.

Matt, terrified of Bonnie being mad at him, ignored Damon’s amusement and offered up the remaining waffle to the furious red-head.

“Here! You can have the last one. I’ll go buy you more, ok? I’m really sorry.”

In one little sigh, Bonnie released her anger, satisfied with Matt’s offer. She smiled at him.

“Ok! Thank you!”

“Jeez!” Matt muttered as Bonnie sat down next to him and grabbed his plate.

He admired her as she happily ate the last chocolate chip waffle she loved so much. She had a cute little smile on her face as she chewed on the waffle, her big cheeks pooching even more. Letting his eyes fall downward, he couldn’t help but do a quick admiration of her body as well. His eyes caught sight of her ankle, propped up in the chair, and he stilled. Blonde brows pulled together in confusion.

“Hey, Bonnie, what happened to the scrape on your ankle?”

Bonnie stiffened, halting mid-chew. Her eyes shot over to Damon, who was looking at her from over the newspaper. Her gaze shifted down to the ankle Matt was staring at. She had put the band-aid on this morning, she remembered doing it. She had been putting a band-aid on for show since Damon healed her.

She shifted he legs around so Matt could see her other ankle.

“It’s on this side. See!” she pointed at the neon-green band-aid.

“Oh fuck…” Damon muttered under his breath.

Matt’s face still held confusion as he met Bonnie’s eyes, “No. I swore it was on the other ankle. Because when I put the band-aid on, I distinctly remember it was on the left.”

It was then that Bonnie realized her mistake. Suddenly she felt hot and her heart began to pound in her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Damon practically smack a hand to his face before wiping it all the way down to his jaw. She could almost hear him groaning in his head. How had she made such a stupid error?! She had been putting it on the correct ankle before!

“No, it was definitely this ankle.” Bonnie lied through her teeth.

Matt didn’t want to argue any further. Maybe he had been mistaken…

“Ok, I believe you. I just would have sworn it was the other side.”

Matt took his car keys from his pocket and held them up, “I’m gonna go get you those waffles.”

He passed Meredith on her way in. She looked over Damon with narrowed eyes as she took Matt’s seat next to Bonnie. The petite girl smiled at her friend, continuing to eat her waffle, then she looked back to Damon with wary eyes.

He avoided her gaze but sent her a telepathic message.

_Bonnie…_

Even in her head, the scolding tone was loud and clear.

 _Sorry,_ she sent back meekly.

Stefan entered the room and tossed a blood bag into Damon’s lap.

“I noticed there aren’t many missing. You need to be drinking more, Damon. Keep your strength up.”

Damon looked down at the blood bad in his lap with disdain before tilting his head up eerily slow at his brother.

“Are you expecting a fight?”

“No, I just know how you get when you don’t feed often. You get ravenous.”

Damon rolled his eyes and picked up the blood bag, “I feel fine. But if it makes you happy…”

His fangs descended. He drove them easily through the thick plastic and into the delicious red fluid within.

Meredith’s face scrunched in revulsion, “Oh gross, Damon!”

“You could do this somewhere else, you know.” Stefan chided.

Damon lifted his mouth from the plastic and wiped the blood from his lips, “I’m sorry are the humans here not supposed to know we’re vampires again? Did I miss the memo?”

Stefan sighed and walked into the kitchen, shaking his head along the way.

Damon caught Bonnie staring at him. Her bottom lip was between her teeth. Keeping his gaze glued with hers, he lifted his bloody finger to his mouth and licked slowly across it, lapping up the leftover blood. He caught the hard contraction of Bonnie’s throat as she swallowed. Then her eyes turned sad and she tore her gaze from his.

Meredith gagged and stood up from the table, “Well, I’ve lost my appetite. I’m out.”

As soon as Damon was alone with Bonnie, he stuck his tongue out in disgust. He grabbed the glass of water Bonnie had in front of her and downed it. He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm.

“That was the _worst_ blood I have ever drank!”

Damon held the bag up in front of his face and examined it, “What is this?”

He found the letter he was looking for, “O positive! Come on, Stefan. If this is what he’s used to I see why he hates himself so much.”

Bonnie giggled, a small hand over her mouth.

“What’s wrong with O positive?”

“I wish I could tell you. It always tastes like complete ass.”

Bonnie giggled again, “So what’s your favorite type then?”

Damon turned a sultry gaze on her, “What’s your blood type?”

“Um…AB negative, I think.”

“That’s my favorite.” Damon smirked.

Bonnie blushed and looked down at her empty plate.

“What about Elena? What’s her blood type?”

Damon reached around Bonnie to take up her plate.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had Elena’s blood,” he breathed into her ear.

Bonnie looked after him as he left through the archway with her plate.

The tired Celtic girl settled into her bed that night. Puffers was hidden beneath the bed in anticipation of Damon’s arrival. She laid alone for 10 minutes with only a night light on before she heard his near-silent footsteps sound across her floor. She kept her back to him as he slipped beneath her covers and pressed himself against her. She couldn’t contain the big smile that spread across her lips.

His fingers brushed lightly across her jaw line and all the way back to her ear, exposing it from her mass of curls. She felt his mouth at the shell of her ear and shivered.

“Puffers better not be in this bed.” He warned.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and turned onto her back to look up at him. Shadows shaded part of his face from view, making him look all the more mysterious, all the more dangerous…

“You’re the only man in my bed, Damon.”

A sinful smile pulled his lips back from his teeth, the pearly whites glistening in the dim lighting. She stared at him, admiring his otherworldly beauty. A glint of red caught her vision and her eyes dashed to his. Those tiny red veins that crawled out from underneath his eyes began to spread just before being reigned back in. Damon rubbed at his eyes with a thumb and middle finger.

“You’re hungry” Bonnie stated.

Damon settled behind her, spooning her, “It’s fine. Just go to sleep.”

Bonnie cuddled into his shirtless form, trying to relax, but his arm around her felt tense. His body seemed to hum with unease. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep with him in this mood. But she didn’t want to seem uncomfortable either. It wasn’t worth chancing Damon’s departure. Instead, she stayed put and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to pull her under.

Damon reminded himself to control his breathing as he felt the blood rushing just beneath Bonnie’s skin. Each thud of her heart pushed fresh sustenance through her system, and through the visible veins beneath her porcelain skin. It was teasing him, egging him on to make the wrong move. His mouth watered as it hovered just above her bare neck. His breaths fanned out across her flesh, bringing goosebumps to her skin.

Bonnie could hear his breathing becoming more ragged as the seconds ticked by. Her pulse picked up. She could feel his mouth edging closer to the side of her neck as his breaths warmed her cool skin, his thirst for her blood intensifying.

Damon licked his lips, the tip of his tongue accidentally grazing her skin. A tiny gasp slipped from Bonnie’s mouth as she squirmed against him. Her heartbeat had increased tenfold, and blood rushed through her veins now. Damon could smell the sweet scent of it and clamped his lips together tightly. He dare not breathe through his mouth, or else he might taste her on his tongue. Soft fingers caressed the top of his hand then. It was balled into a fist at her stomach, and he felt like his knuckles were about to tear through his skin. Slowly, he relaxed his hand, uncurling it and letting her weave her fingers in and out of his.

Damon reprimanded himself as he quickly realized what a mistake that one simple decision had been. The constant tickles of her slender fingers slipping in between his, tracing the length of his digits with a delicate fingertip; it was fueling his desires, pushing his thoughts to dark places. Unknowingly, he had begun running his lips along the edge of her neck, but he couldn’t find the strength to stop. Parting his lips, he sucked in a breath and his sensitive tongue tasted every particle of her scent, and even deeper…the pungent perfume of her blood. He latched his mouth onto the flesh permeated with muddled flavor of her blood. He wanted it—needed it. In an instant, his eyes morphed into their vampiric form and he lifted his mouth from Bonnie’s neck as he felt his fangs extend down into razor-sharp points ready to pierce any barrier.

Bonnie turned to look at him over her shoulder and then rolled onto her back. His full vampire form didn’t frighten her. Not tonight. It excited her. She wanted him to give in. She wanted to satisfy him. She wanted to feel that connection again.

“Damon…” she breathed, reaching out to touch his face.

He caught her wrist and in the next second he was on top of her, pinning both of her wrists to the pillow and settling himself between her legs. Bonnie’s heart leaped in her chest, now heaving with rapid breaths. She only caught a glimpse of his fangs before she felt them puncture through her skin and deep into her throat. Bonnie gasped at the sudden intrusion. A moaned released from her lips as she felt Damon suck hard, taking her in. Reaching up to his chest, Damon drug his nail across his pectoral with one swipe, hard and fast. Bonnie immediately latched on, sucking from the wound cut surprisingly deep.

Damon let out a noise that was some combination of a growl and a moan as their connection flared within him. Bonnie’s grip on him tightened as she felt the pleasure crashing into her in waves, as if a dam had broken. Releasing her wrists, Damon dragged his hand down her body, only covered in a thin t-shirt and an even thinner pair of panties. He felt everything through the barely-there cotton, each bone that protruded, each soft mound of flesh at her top and bottom. A moaned escaped her, muffled by the taught skin she clung to.

Bonnie was vaguely aware of the blood that seeped from his mouth and down into her red tendrils. Her pillow would be ruined. But she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Every part of her was dancing in the flames Damon had sparked within her. His blood ran in trails down the side of her face while she lapped at the hot liquid that ran down her throat. That animalistic part of her activated and she clawed her nails down his back, feeling the muscles tense and contract as he reacted to her touch. He moaned loudly, drilling his teeth further into her neck.

Abruptly, Damon ripped his mouth from her neck, blood dripping from his lips onto the dazed red-head beneath him and onto her light pink sheets, dyed red with each drop. His eyes were heavy with hunger as he sat back on his knees. Taking her arms in either hand, he yanked her up from the bed. Her body was his to do with as he pleased. She was limp, dazed, and still lost in the high of blood sharing. Taking her by the shoulders, Damon faced her away from him. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. Taking his fangs to his own wrist, he ripped into the skin there, opening his veins to her. Blood flowed down his arm and he swept her hair from her neck in one prompt movement. He sunk his ruby fangs into a fresh place at the base of her neck just as he shoved his bloody wrist into her mouth.

Bonnie instantly began to suck as she held onto his arm with a ferocity that made the monster inside Damon rattle against its cage. One of Bonnie’s hands released from his arm and reached up to dive into the black strands of his disheveled hair. Her nails raked across his scalp and then fisted in it. Damon’s body felt like it was burning from the inside out as wave after wave of pleasure lashed at him, weakening his resolve with each strike.

The first signs of fullness registered in him and he lifted his mouth from Bonnie’s neck, letting his head fall back as he basked in the feeling of the little witch drawing his blood into her mouth. Slowly, he pulled his wrist from her mouth and she fell back against him, trembling in a heap of messy curls and scarlet smears. He held her close as she rode out the remnants of the ecstasy he had given her. Damon let his eyes roll back into his head, as he came down with her, the gratification lingering longer than usual. A bloody smile pulled his lips back from his teeth as he stared dazedly at the ceiling. A sinister chuckle left his lips as he relished in the feeling of doing the ‘wrong’ thing.

He felt Bonnie shiver as she pulled her fingers back from her neck and stared at the shiny coating of fresh fluids. She was still bleeding; he had forgotten to heal the wounds thereby creating an even bigger mess than before. Blood covered her arms and t-shirt, it trailed down her legs, onto his sweatpants, and had soaked large puddles into the dips of the bed made by his weight. Damon let his mouth lower back down to her wounds. He had to restrain himself from biting again, reminding himself that he had had enough, and anymore might hurt her. He couldn’t risk something so precious as her life. He sealed up her wounds, and then his own before letting them both collapse into the gory bed. Yeah, he was going to have a mess to clean up in the morning.

He looked over to his girl, completely exhausted. Soft snores sounded from her mouth and Damon knew there was no use trying to clean them up tonight. As he shut his own heavy eyes, he knew he was going to regret this in the morning.


	12. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more update and that's it for one night. Lol!

Bonnie was about in tears as she looked on in horror at the mess made on her bed. It wasn’t just a mess, it was an _old_ mess, an impossible mess to clean. What was bright red blood spots last night had become dark brown blood spots this morning, and she was done for. The whole bed was ruined.

“What do we do?!” she whisper-screamed to Damon, who stood examining the damage with the same amount of worry in his eyes.

Bonnie looked down at herself, dried blood coating her body like a second skin. It felt tight, like a dried face mask, as it pulled at the flexing skin being bent and shifted by her movements. Her clothes were ruined just like her bed sheets.

Damon scratched the back of his head, “Um, just strip the bed. You have spare sheets, right?”

“Yeah.”

Damon nodded and they got on either side of the bed and yanked the soiled sheets from the bed. Bonnie sucked in an audibly sharp breath as the sheets balled up in the floor. Damon froze, but his eyes did not grow wide, they dropped in defeat. The mattress was discolored at every point the sheets had been. Their blood had seeped into the mattress and turned into, what was now brown blotches, smears, and splatters.

“Do you have a spare mattress too?” Damon asked tiredly.

After cleaning herself up in the bathroom, she had dressed in some fresh shorts and a pink top while Damon furiously scrubbed at her mattress with a scrub brush and hydrogen peroxide from under her sink. It was going to take him a while to get those stains out. While she offered to help, he was insistent that she get rid of dirty bed linens while he worked on the better. After all, if he couldn’t get the stains out, she definitely wasn’t going to be able to. So, with a trash bag bulging from her soiled clothes and sheets in hand, she had made it out to the trash bin.

Barely able to see past the bag, Bonnie nearly dropped it to the ground when she heard someone throwing a bag into the bin. Peaking around the bag, she saw a long, slender figure with brown hair cascading down its back. Her jaw nearly broke off and fell to the ground. This couldn’t be happening!

“What on earth are you doing?” Meredith asked her as she turned and caught sight of the small girl holding up a bag nearly twice her size.

Bonnie swallowed her fear and plastered a fake smile to her face, “Just getting rid of some old linens.”

Meredith reached for the bag, “Here! Let me help!”

Instinctively, Bonnie stepped back and clutched the bag tighter, “No, it’s ok! I got it.”

Meredith’s face twisted into a quick scrunch of suspicion before relaxing again.

“Oh-kay…” she said confusedly, drawing the word out.

She turned to walk back inside, but her perceptive emerald orbs halted her as she caught sight of Bonnie’s hand.

“Is that blood?” she asked, pointing to Bonnie’s fingers, dug protectively into the trash bag.

Bonnie’s heart jumped into a panic and she let the trash bag fall to her feet. It couldn’t be! She was sure she had gotten it all off! Hastily twisting her hand around, she studying her fingers. Her eyes nearly fell from her head as they landed on her nails. Beneath three collocated nails was the incriminating brown liquid. It had successfully remained there even through her furious washing. Even worse, it had sneakily settled itself into the cracks at either side of the nails as well. It made her fingers just discolored enough to be noticeable to someone like Meredith, who was way too detail oriented.

The words that came next seemed to slip out on their own accord.

“Yeah, um—I scratched myself earlier.” She lied on the spot, unaware that she was even able to do so.

Meredith hadn’t seemed to hear her, however, her cat-eyes already trained on something else…Bonnie’s hair.

“Do you have blood in your hair?” her voice rose as she took a step closer, her eyes narrowed in on a small patch of matted, strawberry curls.

Bonnie flung a hand to her hair. Sure enough, there was a small section where her curls collected unnaturally, held together by a crusted glue. _How_ had she missed this?! Her head was in a flurry of emotions as it searched for any plausible excuse.

“That’s where I scratched myself.” She blurted, trying everything to keep her breathing level so Meredith didn’t notice how nervous she was too.

If this kept up much longer Bonnie was sure she would pass out.

Meredith’s scrutinizing gaze narrowed further, clearly not buying anything that came from her mouth. She crossed her arms over her chest and planted her feet firmly to the ground. Bonnie knew then that she definitely wasn’t getting out of this one.

“You scratched your neck so hard that you drew enough blood to dry into your hair and get in your nails?”

Now that she said it out loud it did sound pretty suspicious, Bonnie thought.

Bonnie couldn’t find anything else to say. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She just nodded in affirmation.

Meredith’s eyes narrowed into impossible slits, “Show me the wound.”

“W-What?” Bonnie stammered.

“If you scratched yourself that hard, there’s a wound, right? Show it to me.”

This was it. This was where her life was about to end, at the hands of her best friend.

Bonnie hesitated one second too long and Meredith pounced for the trash bag at her feet.

“Meredith, wait!” Bonnie begged, her face red-hot.

The girl’s athletic limbs quickly reached the bag before Bonnie could react. She hooked her fingers around opposite ends of the bag’s rim and pulled, stretching the plastic apart. The bloody sheets were exposed. The largest spot of blood greeted Meredith first and Bonnie watched her friend’s eyes bulge. Her gaze shifted to see portions of bloody fingerprints and smears. Bonnie threw her hands up to her face, unable to watch anymore.

Meredith slowly trailed her gaze from the bag up to Bonnie, whose face was covered by her hands.

“What the _hell_ happened to your bed sheets?”

Bonnie shivered inwardly, able to hear to the blistering anger boiling beneath Meredith’s eerily calm tone.

“Please don’t be mad at me.” Bonnie pleaded, her little voice barely above a whisper.

Meredith took hold of Bonnie’s hands and ripped them from her face, flushing red as a beet.

“Bonnie these sheets are drenched in old blood! Your hair has blood in it,” she held up her small friends tarnished nails and shook them, “and so do your nails! You expect me not to be mad?! I know Damon did this, Bonnie! What did he do? Did he force feed from you? No, he compelled you, didn’t he?! I’m going to _kill_ that ba-“

“He didn’t compel me!” Bonnie blurted, interrupting Meredith’s rant.

Meredith looked into Bonnie’s teary eyes and realized that the petite girl was shaking. She let go of Bonnie’s hands, suddenly feeling guilty. Her anger had gotten the best of her. She dropped her gaze back down to the sheets. There was so much blood…so much of her _best friend’s_ blood.

“Oh god, Bonnie! There’s just so much blood! I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask if you were ok.” She said with a few shakes of her head, a couple stray tears rolling down her cheeks.

Bonnie blinked back her tears and swallowed the lump in her throat, “I’m fine.”

Meredith searched Bonnie’s disoriented features, “Fine?! How could you possibly be fine? Bonnie, try seeing this from my perspective. You have to-“

“I know how it looks!” Bonnie shouted.

“Then please tell me how you can stand there and tell me you’re fine?!” Meredith asked, bewildered.

Bonnie gritted her teeth hard and then took a deep breath, trying to ready herself to speak, or to simply say things in a clear manner. There was no way out of it. The best she could do now would be to beg her friend to keep their secret. But would she, Meredith, Damon’s biggest critic, do something so drastic?

“H-He gives me his blood…” Bonnie admitted, rubbing at her arm shyly.

Meredith’s eyes returned to their saucer state, “He _gives_ you his blood? ‘He,’ as in Damon? And ‘gives’ as in plural? As in this has happened more than once?”

Bonnie nodded slowly, carefully, trying not to throw too much at Meredith too fast.

Meredith curled her fingers in tight, her nails digging into her palms. She took in a long breath through her nose, trying hard not to explode.

“So he’s been feeding from you.” She began slowly, rage laced in the undertones of her voice.

“And you lose that…” Meredith continued, pointing a harsh finger at the stained sheets, “and then what? He gives you just enough of his blood to keep you conscious while he takes _pints_ from you? Because _that_ is not healthy, Bonnie!”

She jammed her finger downward once more, emphasizing the unnaturalness of the amount of blood on the sheets.

“He gives me blood while he drinks from me.” Bonnie explained, trying to clarify Meredith’s confusion.

Her tallest friend’s face fell into a mask of pure shock and Bonnie slapped a hand over her mouth, having realized the admission behind what she had just said. It took Meredith a moment to collect herself, and when she spoke again, Bonnie could hear the restraint in her tone.

“Ok. Let me get this straight…Damon lets you drink from him while he drinks from you? So you’re drinking each other’s blood at the same time then?”

Bonnie barely nodded, scared to move her head in the conformational gesture.

Meredith dragged her hands over her face, looking like a ticking time bomb as she began to pace back in forth in a short distance.

“Oh my God…Oh my God…” she muttered, the volume of her voice raising each time.

She spun so suddenly that Bonnie jumped. Meredith locked her disbelieving eyes with hers.

“You’re blood sharing?!” the tanned girl cried out.

Bonnie cautiously lifted her shoulders in a shrug, “I-I guess so. I mean, we don’t really talk about it. It kind of just ha-happens…”

Meredith brought her fingers up to her nose, her hands clasped together in prayer formation. She was thinking, deciding what to do, what should be done, what steps to take next, how to handle this…

Exhaling long and hard, Meredith pointed her prayer-hands at Bonnie and fixed concerned eyes on her.

“Bonnie” she began, and the red-head knew what was about to come. A lecture.

“Meredith, please! Please don’t say anything to anyone! Please!” Bonnie begged, halting Meredith’s lecture.

The brunette girl stared at her small friend, seeing nothing but fear swirling deep in Bonnie’s chocolate pools. Tears sprung from her eyes and streamed down flushed cheeks. Meredith knew to say ‘no’ to this broken girl would be to break her, and possibly their friendship. But what would be the consequences if she didn’t say ‘no’? She couldn’t let Bonnie, sweet little Bonnie, go on like this. What kind of friend would she be if she let Bonnie be Damon’s eternal blood bag?! What kind of friend would she be if she tried to take away her best friend’s ability to make her own choices? She would be taking away everything that made her a best friend in the first place: trust, reliability, loyalty. But her friend was also in danger by making her own choices, and it was he job to protect her from those bad decisions, right? Wasn’t that also part of being a best friend, looking out for one another? What was there to do?

“Please! For me?” Bonnie begged once more.

Meredith reached for her best friend and took her in her arms, hugging her tight.

“I’ll keep your secret. But on one condition…”

Bonnie pulled back from the hug, looking relieved and wary all at once.

“What is it?” she asked softly, unsure whether she wanted to know the answer.

“This can’t keep going on. I can’t stand by and let you hurt yourself. So I’ll keep your secret, but only if you promise me that Damon finds someone else to feed from—no more blood sharing from here on out…”

She lifted her pinky up to Bonnie, “Deal?”

Bonnie paused momentarily, weighing her options and the consequences of what she was about to do. Lifting her pinky, she locked it with Meredith’s.

“Deal.”

Meredith threw Bonnie’s trash bag away for her, making sure none of the blood could be seen.

She dusted her hands off, “There. No one should notice.”

“Can I ask you for a favor?” Bonnie asked meekly, wringing her hands together.

“What is it?” Meredith asked in an exhausted voice. She wasn’t sure how many more surprises she could handle today.

“Can you help me and Damon clean up my mattress?” Bonnie asked, offering a nervous smile.

As the girls walked back into the boarding house and towards Bonnie’s room, Meredith spoke lowly.

“Of course I’m mad at him! He’s been having weird vampire sex with my best friend!”

Bonnie halted on the steps and turned back to Meredith.

“We’re _not_ having sex!” she whispered harshly, her cheeks burning.

Meredith gave her a look that said she knew better, “Oh really? And how does it make you feel?”

Bonnie blushed harder and kept walking. Meredith caught up to her and leaned in close over her shoulder.

“Vampire sex!” she whispered pointedly.

Bonnie shot her an angry look over her shoulder.

When they reached her room, Bonnie stopped Meredith from going in.

“Stay here for a second. I need to tell Damon that you know before you walk in.”

Meredith looked at her warily, “Ok, but I swear to God Bonnie, if I hear anything—”

“We’re _talking_!” Bonnie insisted, effectively cutting her off.

“Just stay here.”

Meredith nodded in compliance.

Slipping into the room, Bonnie found Damon on his hands and knees scrubbing hard at the largest spot on the mattress. He was still shirtless from the night before, still wearing his blood- stained sweatpants too.

“So, how’d she find out?” Damon asked, not bothering to look at her.

Surprise quickly shifted to uneasiness at the calmness of his tone.

“She caught me outside with the trash.”

His dark eyes landed on her hair, crusted over with dried blood just beneath her ear. Meredith had hawk eyes for sure.

“Your hair.”

Bonnie nodded, shooting him apologetic eyes.

Damon straightened up, kneeling, “Why didn’t you wash it?!”

“I did! I thought I got it all!” she defended.

“Obviously not.” Damon snapped.

Bottling her hurt at his harshness, she continued on.

“She agreed not to tell, so you don’t need to worry.”

Damon studied the small red-head for a moment and then stood from the bed. He walked close to her, his eyes squinting.

“What was the catch?” he crossed his arms over his chest, muscles bulging.

Bonnie hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth to speak. Damon’s brows rose impatiently.

“Um…”

“That’s not an answer little witch.”

“We can’t blood share anymore.” Bonnie said quickly, wishing the words out of her mouth as fast as possible.

A large, humorless smile spread across Damon’s lips. He snorted a devilish laugh.

“And you agreed…”

It wasn’t a question. Bonnie knew that he already knew the right answer.

“Yes” she answered with a gulp.

Damon stalked forward at the pace of a predator sneaking up on its prey. He stopped a foot from Bonnie and leaned down to be eye level with her. His dark eyes bore into hers, flicking back and forth between each chocolatey crystal.

“And what if I slip up?” he asked with a mischievous smirk crawling across his lips.

Bonnie bit down on her lower lip, at a loss for words. Her breath hitched as Damon leaned closer, keeping his lips only centimeters from hers. He ghosted parted lips over hers and Bonnie’s mouth mimicked his, reflexively parting in anticipation of his kiss.

“W-Wait…” Bonnie started dizzily.

“Meredith is—”

“She’s outside the door. I know.” He finished, his breaths hitting her tongue.

“It’s scares you, doesn’t it?” his eyes analyzed hers.

“W-what do you mean?”

“How I make you feel…”

Bonnie’s blush spread across her button nose. Damon could hear the little skips made by her heart.

Damon straightened himself, snickering.

“Come in, Meredith!” he called, never tearing his gaze from the flustered witch.

The door opened and Meredith quickly slipped into the room, shutting the door and locking it behind her. Her eyes immediately landed on Damon, his sweatpants soiled with her best friend’s blood, and she became supercharged with rage. She stomped over to him and swung hard. Damon caught her hand one quick lift of his arm. But she was determined to land a blow. The angry brunette lifted her leg and kicked, aiming straight for his undead jewels. Damon turned his hips and blocked her with his thigh.

He huffed as she ripped her wrist from his grip, “Could you not?”

“I should shove a stake in your chest right now!” Meredith seethed.

Damon’s eyes rolled hard, “Look, you’re mad at me for feeding off your best friend behind your back. I get it. But she’s fine. All healed… _mostly_ clean…”

He trailed off, giving Bonnie a reprimanding look over Meredith’s shoulder.

“And we have more pressing matters at hand. So can we please focus!” Damon continued, giving a firm hand gesture toward the mattress.

Meredith ground her teeth, “Fine!”

“But you and I are going to talk later!” Meredith warned.

“I look _so_ forward to it, darling.” Damon said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he offered a fake smile.

Bonnie sighed at their exchange and took to the bed. It Damon had seemed to get some of the tiny splatters up, but the smears were still half visible and the large puddle in the center of the bed was still just as prominent as it had been when they stripped the sheets off. Meredith grabbed some old rags from the linen closet in the hallway and they each took to an assigned section of the bed, scrubbing away with soap, water, and uncounted ounces of hydrogen peroxide.


	13. Coming Clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit shorter, but I just gave you lovely readers a 3 chapter update all at once, so I think I deserve some slack. Haha! But anyways, I hope you all love these chapters and I'm veryyyyy excited to post the next one. ;)

“Well? What do you think?” Meredith asked, huffing as the muscles in her arms burned from overuse.

They each stood back, examining the bed. They tilted their heads from side to side slowly, looking at it from every angle. Aside from the large we spots trying to dry across the bed, the dark material wrapping the mattress was blood free. Though, the outer ring from the largest blood spot was a lost cause. Damon had scrubbed it as hard as he could without tearing holes in the covering. It wasn’t coming out. He had definitely made it a lighter shade of brown, however.

“I think it’s as good as it’s gonna get.” Bonnie said.

“The sheets will cover it.” Damon stated nonchalantly.

“I’m buying you a waterproof mattress cover.” Meredith told Bonnie, her arms feeling like jelly.

Damon shrugged, “Still easier to just do it in the shower.”

Meredith and Bonnie both flung their heads at him nearly succinctly, staring with wide eyes. Damon didn’t bother looking at either girl, already knowing what their reactions would be. A cocky smirk crept along his lips as he kept his eyes trained on the bed.

Memories flashed in Meredith’s mind and came together like pieces of a puzzle. Bonnie peaked over to her friend to see the cogs of her mind working in overdrive. She was figuring it all out. Bonnie saw the lightbulb go off in her head just before she spoke.

“That crashing noise! That was _you!_ ” she hissed, turning furious emeralds on Damon.

Damon let his eyes glide over to Meredith’s, “Guilty as charged.”

This time, Meredith turned on Bonnie and gave her a look that matched the acronym ‘wtf.’

“You were in the shower with him?!” she asked incredulously.

“No!” Bonnie shouted, instantly on the defense, “It wasn’t like that!”

“What’s that?” Damon asked, cutting into their conversation.

Bonnie turned her head to look and saw Damon pointing to something under her bed. Her chocolate orbs grew ten times bigger as she watched Damon reach under her bed.

“Damon, wait!” Bonnie shouted, reaching out to try to stop him.

He was already pulling it out. Puffers. Damon stood and faced her with the brown bear in hand. He held it up in front of her accusatorily.

“I thought you got rid of it…”

Bonnie stuttered, unable to find the right words.

“A teddy bear?” Meredith questioned, completely confused as she looked from Bonnie to Damon.

“I can’t just throw him out!” Bonnie cried.

“I can.” Damon threatened.

She could see the impulse in his eyes and she knew he just might.

“Damon, please!” she begged, reaching for the bear.

She caught Puffers’ fuzzy leg but Damon held him tight.

“Oh! That’s the bear Matt got you!” Meredith voiced just before her laughter echoed throughout the silent room.

Damon growled and released the bear, watching through narrowed eyes as Bonnie quickly sat him safely onto her dresser.

“You’re upset over a bear?” Meredith asked through fits of laughter.

“It needs to burn.” Damon grumbled.

Bonnie huffed, turning to face him, “Leave Puffers alone!”

“Ok, well I’m getting out of here.” Meredith stated.

She began to walk and then halted when Damon stayed put. She stared at him, dark brown brows raised over her eyes. Damon glowered at her and stalked slowly from the room. Meredith closed the door behind them and planted her back against it. Damon shook his head and smiled in humorless amazement.

“I’m not thirsty anymore, Meredith.”

“With the amount of blood that I just cleaned, you should be good for a while.”

She waited against the door as he lingered in the hallway. Raising a hand, she flicked it, shewing him.

“I’m not going to kill her.”

“I know that. You have feelings for her.” Meredith stated matter-of-factly.

Damon opened his mouth to protest, but Meredith held up a hand, silencing him.

“Not interested in your denial speech…you do. And that’s why I’m worried.”

Damon quirked up his brows.

“You care about her…but you have no intention of choosing her. She’s just a pretty distraction.”

Damon clenched his jaw, burning with suppressed rage. But he didn’t know what to say because, in truth, he hadn’t thought about making a choice at all. He had gotten used to this sense of limbo he was in, stuck in an impossible decision.

“So no, I don’t want you around her, because every time you look at her it gives her hope that you’re going to pick her, and we both know that’s never going to happen as long as Elena’s around.”

Meredith pushed off from the door and took a step closer to Damon, still, boiling, unable to look away from her.

“You’re never there to clean up the messes you make. You aren’t there when she breaks down over you. I am…and I don’t want to see it anymore. I want to see my best friend happy, not constantly broken over a guy she can’t have.”

Meredith pushed off the door and brushed passed Damon as she walked down the hall to her room. Damon remained there, lost in his head, seething at her words to him, replaying them over and over in his mind.

Stefan’s footsteps broke him from his thoughts and he rushed off to his room before his brother caught sight of his bloody pants.

That evening, the gang gathered for a movie. Elena skipped excitedly into the room holding up a plastic DVD case in her hand. Damon glanced at it and groaned.

“Not another cartoon!”

Meredith and Bonnie squealed and clapped as Elena showed them the case.

“It’s not a cartoon, it’s Tangled!” she shot back, popping the DVD into the blue-ray player.

Stefan chuckled, “Come on, it’s her night to choose.”

“Well I’m personally excited. I’ve never seen this.” Matt chipped in.

Bonnie sat beside him on the couch opposite Damon, and the oldest Salvatore was positive Mutt was kissing ass in case she got upset and decided to sit elsewhere. Stefan handed Elena the popcorn bowl as she cuddled up into him. Meredith hit play on the remote, keeping a close eye on Bonnie as she curled up into a ball beside her. She was cold.

Damon smirked to himself as he felt the thick, fleece blanket behind his head. He leaned back into the recliner holding the only blanket in the room and waited.

Ten minutes into the movie, Bonnie was shivering. Matt had tried to put his arm around her, with Meredith’s encouragement. Meredith had shot Damon a smirk of her own afterwards. He had remained calm, cool, and collected, however. Because in the dark room only lit by pixelated scenes on the television, Meredith had overlooked the fact that he had the only blanket. And Bonnie was still shivering.

“Hey, Elena can you give me a blanket for Bonnie?” Matt asked.

Elena reached up behind her head and felt nothing but the leather of the couch.

“It’s not on that couch?” she questioned.

Matt looked behind him all along the top of the matching couch, double checking.

“No…”

Meredith’s eyes had spotted the blanket long before everyone else and she was giving him the dirtiest look she had. Damon sat up and grabbed the blanket from behind himself.

“Here…” he held up the blanket.

Matt almost grabbed her as she got up to go get the blanket from Damon. Why couldn’t he just throw it?!

Bonnie shivered and reached for the blanket. Damon grabbed her hand and pulled her into the recliner with him. She squeaked as she fell into his lap. Damon fixed the blanket around her and she cautiously settled into the little space between him and the recliner’s arm.

“Better?” Damon asked, smirking down at her.

She peaked up at him through her lashes, her cheek resting against his chest.

“Mhmm.” She hummed softly, her cheeks tinted a soft pink.

Damon let his arm rest lazily around her as his eyes connected with Matt’s. He smiled deviously. Meredith rolled her eyes, realizing there was nothing she could do without making a scene. Stefan shot his brother a warning glare as Bonnie slid her hand up to his chest and grabbed a fistful of the cotton t-shirt.

Damon took notice of the way Elena shifted uncomfortably beside Stefan. Seeing him so close with Bonnie bothered her, he could sense it. His heart surged painfully, filling him with guilt. Looking down at Bonnie’s mess of curls, his fingers dove into the tendrils and twirled them around his fingers. He couldn’t help himself; his craving to be close to her had drowned out any further thought of the consequences it might cause. He had just wanted to feel her against him, smell the lavender of her hair up close. Her scent had been pestering him since they all walked into the living room, battling with Elena’s, which smelled more like roses. He wanted Elena too. He wanted to touch her just as much, but something in him just… _yearned_ for the little red-head cozied against him. He sighed softly as he marveled at how her silky ringlets caressed his fingers as if they, too, longed for his touch.

Meredith patted Matt on the arm after looking over to gauge his reaction. He was upset and was trying hard not to look over to Bonnie and Damon. Matt’s blue eyes met hers and she could tell how much he wished Bonnie had stayed by him. She wished that too but could only offer him a supportive smile. He couldn’t give up; she wouldn’t let him.

Truth be told, she was having a hard time not looking over to Bonnie too. She was worried, but also intrigued. After the fifth time of her eyes flicking over to them, she let her gaze remain there. She watched Damon’s fingers, twirling languidly in Bonnie’s fiery curls. His eyes were heavy as he studied every feature of her face with the utmost care. He was in his own world with her in that moment. Her best friend’s eyes were getting heavy themselves, but with sleep. Meredith saw the way she clung to him, melting into his every touch. An unexpected feeling of guilt bubbled up in her. Was she doing the right thing trying to push her towards Matt?

When the movie ended Elena got up and stretched. Damon’s eyes trailed down her body. Meredith scoffed silently. There he went again, having wandering eyes while another girl was asleep in his arms.

“Matt, why don’t you take Bonnie up to her room.” Elena suggested.

Matt didn’t hesitate and went straight for the sleeping girl, “Sure.”

Damon tightened his arm around Bonnie, “I’ve got her.”

“Damon, just let Matt take her, I’m sure you’re tired of holding her by now…” Elena said softly, but Meredith could hear the strain in her voice.

Meredith watched intently waiting to see who Damon would choose. Reluctantly, Damon let Matt scoop Bonnie up from his arms. Meredith shook her head and stood from the couch. Damon caught her disapproving glare from over Matt’s shoulder.

Matt cradled her like she was the most precious thing in the world. With all the gentleness he could muster, he carried her up the stairs to her room. Damon stiff body relaxed as soon as he felt Elena’s hand touch his shoulder. Her lips touched his cheek in the softest kiss he had ever had.

“Goodnight.” She said sweetly.

Damon caught her hand and kissed it before she could turn away.

“Goodnight, Princess.” He said, his dark eyes low and sultry.

Stefan took hold of Elena’s hand as she turned to him and shot Damon a blazing glare. Then the disappeared down the hall to Stefan’s room. Damon’s eyes lingered after Elena, swirling with longing.

“You’re disgusting.” Meredith spat.

Damon turned to her with a blank stare, any amount of longing vanquished from his eyes.

“Well I don’t find you particularly appealing either.”

“Don’t bother sneaking into Bonnie’s room tonight, I’m staying with her so when she wakes up wondering how she got to bed I can break it to her that _Matt_ carried her up there from _your_ arms.”

With that, Meredith stormed up the stairs. Damon shifted his jaw as the muscles around it tightened with ill temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and for the kudos! Love the support! Also, sorry for any errors, I am only one measly human. Lol!


	14. Car Rides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating this story on here. Honestly, I've just been busy, with a little mix of feeling lazy/down. So with that being said, a triple update is due! ;) Hope you like this chapter, it's a doozy! Haha!

It was just after one o’clock when Meredith walked back into the boarding house.

“Is Bonnie at her advising appointment?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, I’m going back out in about 10 minutes to pick her up. I just wanted to come grab my wallet, I left it by accident.” Meredith answered.

Damon, listening in from a couple rooms down the hall, whooshed from the room and out the back door. Entering the 4-car garage, his Ferrari roared to life. He backed out of the driveway onto the main road. Matt caught something black and sleek move through the front window. Throwing his laptop aside, he stood from the couch and ran to the window. He tossed the curtains aside and yanked them open wide just as the purr of the Ferrari’s engine sprung to life and Damon took off down the road.

Meredith appeared beside Matt as he sighed.

“You think he’s going to get her?”

“Yep.” Meredith answered, popping the ‘p.’

Damon rolled up to the visitor’s lot of the college campus and parked. Letting the engine idle, he pulled out his cellphone and clicked on Bonnie’s name, ‘Redbird.’

I came to pick you up. What building are you in?

He typed out and hit send.

Bonnie’s reply dinged within seconds: The art building.

Just as Bonnie walked down the steps of the art building’s entrance, Damon’s pristine midnight-black Ferrari pulled up. She looked around at the other students who were all staring at the car, intrigued. Why couldn’t Meredith have come instead?

She kept her head down as she rushed to the Ferrari. She saw Damon’s door pop open and watched as he stood from the car. His hair was as shiny as the car as he walked around and over to the passenger side. There he was, all in black from head to toe, looking dangerous and sexy. His v-neck t-shirt dipped low enough to see the tops of his defined pectorals, and the black pants he worse hugged him in all the right places. The toned outline of his body was very visible and Bonnie hated that everyone could see. It wasn’t a big town, she would inevitably run into these people outside of class; she already did at times. She didn’t want to have to compete with anymore females for his attention.

A few whistles and “damns” sounded from behind her and Bonnie grimaced as Damon opened the passenger door for her. She hopped in quickly and Damon shut the door behind her. Any other sound besides hers were irrelevant to him as he hopped into the driver’s seat and shut his door. He put the stick in drive and carefully drove them from the parking lot.

“Why didn’t Meredith come?” she asked.

Damon shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road, “I beat her to it.”

He glanced over to Bonnie. She was silent, looking down at her twiddling fingers. He knew then that Meredith had indeed told her what happened last night.

“How did your appointment go? Did you get your classes fixed for fall?”

Bonnie nodded.

Damon glanced at her again and pulled over into a small faculty lot. Bonnie looked over at him, startled.

His eyes touched hers, “I’m sorry about last night, ok? I was…confused. I didn’t want to let him—”

“It’s ok,” she interrupted, “I get it. Elena was there. I know it’s hard for you.”

Damon scooped her hand up in his and pulled it to his lips. He kissed it hard, his eyes never leaving hers, “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you.” She said, enchanted by him.

Damon kept her hand in his as he pulled out of the lot and back onto the winding campus road. She let go of his hand only to reply to Meredith, who was frantically texting her asking if Damon had picked her up. Damon’s hand went to thigh, mostly exposed by the flowery skirt she was wearing. His fingers drifted, gliding up and down her smooth skin.

“It’s Meredith.” She informed him as she typed speedily.

Damon only hummed in response and continued his ministrations on her thigh. Bonnie sucked in a sharp breath as his fingers slid up past mid-thigh and all the way to the hem of her skirt. Tingles shot through her body and she shook at the pleasant chill that swept across her skin. Damon noticed her reaction and smirked.

“You ok?” he asked, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Yeah” Bonnie replied shortly, biting hard on her lower lip.

Damon continued gliding his fingers along her leg, memorizing the way it felt as they drove home in silence. Somewhere along the way, Bonnie had taken his hand in hers and run her fingers through his, occasionally stopping to trace a trail from his inner wrist to his palm. Though he was more than comfortable, Damon’s head raced with choices, possibilities, and memories.

When they reached the house, Damon stopped the car a few feet from the driveway so that they were covered by a row of trees. He turned to her just as her confused orbs met his.

“Can you answer a question for me?” Damon asked, his tone as sweet as sugar.

Bonnie couldn’t possibly say no to him when he looked at her like that, so deeply, so purely…

“Ok.”

“What do you expect from me? What do you actually want me to give you?” he asked, his eyes turning serious as they searched hers.

Bonnie gulped at the heaviness of his question, “I don’t know if I understand—”

Damon’s voice rose, “Do you want me to tell you my heart’s all yours? Do you want us to be exclusive? Are you waiting for me to ask you out? What are you after? What are you hoping for?”

“Why do you want to know this?” Bonnie breathed, too many emotions bubbling up in her at once.

“Because I have no idea what I’m capable of giving you.”

Tears fell from Bonnie’s eyes as she turned away from him. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, her gaze falling to her lap.

“I just want you…” she whispered, turning her teary eyes on Damon.

He reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt. Taking her by the arm, he pulled gently.

“Come here.”

Bonnie complied instantly, having no strength to protest. She crawled over the car’s tiny console and straddled Damon’s lap. Damon took her face in his hands and looked intently into her drowning chocolate crystals. Using the pads of his thumbs, he gently wiped her tears away. He touched his forehead to hers.

“I never intend to make you cry,” he breathed.

Bonnie sniffed once, “but you always do…”

She could feel his warm breaths fanning across her lips, sneaking through to brush the tip of her tongue.

“I’m so—”

Bonnie crushed her lips to his, effectively ending his apology. She pushed her fingers up into his hair, reveling in the softness as Damon moaned against her lips. His hands were in her curls in seconds, raking through the masses, pulling softly to keep her close. He took control of the kiss, parting her lips with his and dipping his tongue into her mouth, sliding it against hers purposefully slow. Shivers rolled down her spine and he played her body like a fiddle, dragging a single finger down the center of her back to draw out the feeling. Reaching her lower back, Bonnie gasped when Damon’s hand continued its journey downward and cupped her bottom. He squeezed and pulled her even closer against him. She couldn’t help the moan that escaped her lips at their closeness.

With a gentle pull, Damon angled Bonnie’s head back, exposing her throat to him. He dragged his tongue from the base of her throat, up the front, and to her chin where he began to nip along her jawline with his teeth. Her small whimpers of pleasure were all he could hear, and her scent was overwhelming in the small space of his car. It intoxicated him with every breath he drew into his lungs, dulling every part of his brain but the parts that wanted her. She took every facet of his sanity with every touch of her lips to his as they captured and recaptured one another’s mouth in sloppy kisses.

He could feel the last remnants of his control slipping as she unknowingly ground her hips into his. The skirt was covering no part of her lower half and Damon was feeling parts of her through her thin panties that he knew he shouldn’t be. With a low growl he rapidly unbuttoned her top and Bonnie squeaked nervously at her new state of exposure. But Damon’s hands were already on her breasts, cupping her through her thinly lined bra.

Bonnie’s heart pounded as nerves coursed through her body, but Damon’s hands gently kneading her drove her into a realm of tranquility, and she had softened into his touch. Her head fell back and one strong arm circled around her back, holding her close. Damon’s mouth came down on her collarbone and kissed along it all the way to her shoulder, where he gently pulled the bra strap down. Her hands were glued to his hair, fisting in the strands as his teeth clamped down over her shoulder and made her shudder.

Her eyes flew open suddenly and she froze.

Damon chuckled at her reaction and ground into her, letting her feel him through his pants. He pulled back from her to look at her face. Her expression held nothing but panic, but her eyes gleamed with a heady desire for more.

“We don’t have to—”

But Bonnie had already made up her mind. Her hands went to the button at his pants. Damon’s hands came down onto hers and she looked back up to him, worried he was going to make her stop. His eyes bore into hers, lustful, wild, but conflicted. Just then his words replayed in her mind, ‘my weakness.’ She wiggled her hips and touched her nose to his.

“Please…” she begged, looking down at his lips.

Something in him snapped and he shoved her hands out of the way. He had his pants undone in a second and was pulling himself out. Bonnie gulped at his size, but she knew she wasn’t about to back down either. Her body screamed for his and she pulled her underwear to the side. She positioned herself over him and paused. Damon’s breaths were ragged as he gripped her hips like his immortality depended on it. His eyes flicked to hers, pleading for her to go on. And then desire flooded her. She lowered herself onto his length and Damon dug his nails into her skin, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Bonnie moaned as she settled all the way down, feeling him deep within her. Damon guided her by her hips, slowly lifting her up and just as slowly pulling her back down. He didn’t want to hurt her. But Bonnie was far from pain as a familiar ecstasy began to pool in her abdomen and spread out to the far reaches of her body. He felt her tighten around him and he groaned. Bonnie sunk all the way down onto him and rocked her hips. Damon held her tight to him and their ragged breaths mingled as their movements quickened.

Within seconds, Bonnie had become lost in the pleasure, her moans turning to screams that kept Damon thrusting feverishly into her. Damon writhed beneath her as they both held each other tight, scratching, grabbing, and pulling on the clothes that kept their skin apart. Their pleasure built until finally, with one last thrust, Bonnie threw her head back and moaned loudly as she contracted around Damon and drove him to his own orgasm. He clawed her thighs as he released inside of her with a deep moan.

Bonnie collapsed into him as she tried to catch her breath, trembling from the force of her orgasm and the bliss coursing through her blood stream. Damon held her close and chuckled, feeling the pleasure lingering in his system.

“Are you ok?” he asked, brushing her hair back from her face.

“Did we really just—I’m not dreaming right?” she asked through shallow breaths.

Damon chuckled again and smirked, “You dream about having sex with me?”

Too tired to lie, Bonnie nodded into the side of his neck, “Sometimes.”

Damon stiffened suddenly, and Bonnie shot upright.

“What is it?” she asked through a whisper.

Damon took hold of her hips and lifted her off him.

“Someone’s walking this way.”

Bonnie scrambled to her seat and smoothed out her clothes and hair. Damon hastily stuffed himself back into his pants and buttoned them up just before a not-so-gentle knock tapped at the window. Damon was much better at acting than she was as he rolled down the window casually like they hadn’t just had sex.

A scrutinizing Meredith was leaning down, looking into the window with narrowed green orbs.

“Can I help you?” Damon asked, annoyed.

She held up her phone and looked to Bonnie, “Why haven’t you answered me? I’ve been texting you!”

Bonnie looked at her phone, sitting in the passenger door’s pocket. It lit up, revealing 7 unread texts.

“Sorry Meredith, I didn’t see them. We were, um—”

“We were talking” Damon butt in, finishing for her.

“For over half an hour?”

“You know I do actually have the ability to hold conversations, I’m not all looks.” He winked at her.

Meredith rolled her eyes, not seeing anything of suspicion in the car, “I’ll see you both inside.”

Damon rolled up the window and sunk down into the driver’s seat. His head fell to the side, looking at Bonnie. The red-head bit her lip and blushed as Damon looked into her eyes with the sultriest gaze she had ever seen. Things had changed between them now, she could feel it. Their connection was heightened, deeper. But she wasn’t sure what this meant for their relationship, or how they would treat one another from here on out. Maybe nothing would change at all…

Damon drove them into the garage and hopped out to open the door for her as he had the first time. Bonnie thanked him as he helped her out. She threw her purse over her shoulder and headed for the garage door. Damon grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He hoisted her up and pinned her onto the hood of his Ferrari. He kissed her hard and curled his fingers around her thigh, pulling it up and wrapping it around his waist. He ground his hips into hers and pulled back just enough to watch her face twist in pleasure as she moaned. His lips ghosted hers.

“Come to my room tonight…”

Bonnie’s head went hazy; her body surged with more cravings. She nodded. Yes, things had definitely changed between them.

“And no panties…or I’ll rip them off you.” Damon breathed and took her lower lip in his mouth, sucking softly.

Damon broke their kiss abruptly and pushed away from her, leaving her dazed and flustered.

“Better hurry inside before Meredith comes looking for you.” He smirked, nodding toward the house.

Bonnie hopped down from the car and smoothed out her skirt. She followed after Damon into the house.

Bonnie and Damon both looked at the hall bathroom, eager to clean themselves up. They looked at each other and Bonnie took off, sprinting for it. When she got there, Damon appeared at the door with a cocky smile on his face.

“Ladies first!” she insisted.

Damon huffed, shifting uncomfortably in his pants, damp and sticky.

“You have vampire speed, run upstairs.” Bonnie said just before shutting the door in his face.

Damon grunted and sped upstairs. Damn girl!

After a quick wipe up, Bonnie emerged from the bathroom and walked into the living room where Matt and Meredith sat. Matt greeted her with a huge smile, and guilt slammed into her. She could still feel Damon inside of her, and here she was having to pretend like the best moment of her life hadn’t just occurred, like she hadn’t given herself completely to a man that she loved fiercely. As she returned Matt’s smile, unable to help its contagion, her heart longed to be staring into much darker eyes, to be held by a much more sinister man…

“Sorry I didn’t come pick you up. Damon kind of rushed out of here…” Matt explained.

Bonnie smiled at him, “It’s ok, Matt.”

She was overjoyed that he hadn’t been the one to come get her, in truth. It had allowed her and Damon to become closer. Bonnie walked over to Meredith and sat down beside her, looking at whatever she was doing on her laptop. Suddenly, she pulled up a blank Word page and started typing a secret message to Bonnie:

Matt doesn’t know you were parked outside for so long. I told him you guys got stuck in traffic. Were you and Damon actually talking? Or did you blood share again? I promise not to lecture you.

Meredith passed the laptop over to Bonnie for her to type a response.

She typed: We didn’t blood share and yes, we were talking

Meredith looked at her in positive surprise.

“Really?’ she mouthed.

Bonnie paused briefly before nodding, Meredith was such a good friend to her. They had promised each other many times over not to hide anything or lie. Yet, she broke that in her tristes with Damon for the first time ever! Meredith had never done such a thing to her. She felt so guilty about lying to her best friend, and saddened by the thought of keeping her out of the loop. They were supposed to share everything with one another, good or bad.

With a long intake of breath, Bonnie grabbed the laptop from Meredith before she could close out the Word window. Meredith watched intently as she typed:

But something happened…and I need to tell you, in secret.

Meredith looked to her with worried eyes and pointed behind her at the study down the hall, wordlessly asking Bonnie if they needed to go in there and talk. Bonnie shrugged internally, it was now or never. She nodded carefully, feeling as if she might take it back at any moment. They stood from the couch and Meredith closed up her laptop.

“Hey Matt, we’ll be right back.” Meredith told him.

“Ok” said the oblivious blonde watching YouTube videos on his laptop.

Meredith and Bonnie made their way toward the study when Damon came around the corner clad in the same t-shirt, but now paired with black joggers. His devilish eyes locked on her as they stood a couple feet apart.

“Where are you two off to?” he asked, his gaze never leaving Bonnie.

Meredith looked between them, sensing some weirdness.

“The study. School stuff.” She answered slowly, unable to shake the weird vibes she got as her gaze flicked back and forth from Bonnie to Damon and Damon to Bonnie.

Damon stepped closer to Bonnie and brought a hand up to her ear. He tucked some curls behind her ear and let his hand run along her jaw to her mouth, where he traced the pad of his thumb over her lower lip. Bonnie couldn’t tear her eyes from his.

“Let me know if you need any help.” He voice stated, but he was somewhere far away as he stared deeply into Bonnie’s helpless eyes.

“Ok, we will…” she said slowly, trying to make sense of the situation. It was all so heavy, so intimate, and she felt like she was intruding somehow.

“We will.” Bonnie replied, seeming to be the only voice getting through to Damon.

Dropping his hand from her lips, he smirked and walked on down the hall. Bonnie exhaled the breath she had involuntarily been holding and tried to compose herself. Meredith grabbed Bonnie by the arm and practically raced to the study.

Upon closing the door behind them, Meredith turned to Bonnie.

“Please start explaining, because what the _hell_ was that?!”

“Ok, but…promise not to get mad.” Bonnie asked timidly.

“I promise.”

Bonnie took a deep breath, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Meredith that she had a giant red blush painting her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Bonnie wrung her hands and paced a little before standing nervously in front of her friend.

“We did it.” She admitted, slapping her hands over her face so she didn’t have to see Meredith’s reaction.

But one never came, “Did what?”

“You know!” Bonnie urged, willing Meredith to understand.

Meredith was drawing a blank, “No! I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.”

Bonnie slapped her hands over her eyes, mortified.

“I had sex with Damon.” She blurted, smashing her palms into her cheek bones.

The room fell silent and Bonnie could only hear the pounding of her own heartbeat as it thumped against her ribcage. The seconds ticked by with no noise and Bonnie peaked through shaky fingers at her friend. Meredith was just standing there, staring at her blankly, as if in shock.

“What?” Meredith finally responded, breathily.

Bonnie dropped her hands from her face and squeezed her eyes shut, “Please don’t make me say it again.”

“I don’t—you—when—wh—” came Meredith’s many babbles.

Meredith began to pace, raking her hand through her long brunette strands.

“I—I want to tell you because, well, you’re my best friend. I didn’t want to hide things from you.” Bonnie clarified, hoping, praying that it would make a difference.

Meredith stopped to drag her hands over her face and huffed. She looked at her small nervous friend and her emerald orbs softened. She held her arms out to Bonnie and the strawberry-headed girl flung herself into her arms. The embraced in a big, sisterly hug.

“Thank you for telling me.” Meredith said, gratefully.

They pulled away from each other and Bonnie had tears in her eyes.

“He didn’t…hurt you? Right?” Meredith asked cautiously.

Bonnie shook her head.

There was more silence between the girls before Bonnie broke it.

“You’re not mad at me, right?”

Meredith took in a steadying breath, “I’m not mad at you…”

“On the other hand, I’d really love to stab Damon straight through the heart with a nice, sharp stake.”

Bonnie flinched, “I’m sorry. I—”

“I know. You love him.” Meredith said through a sigh.

Bonnie’s chocolate irises turned down as she hung her head, looking guilty.

“Look Bonnie, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I just want you to remember that you’re playing in the crossfire. Just because he had sex with you doesn’t mean he’s going to stick around. I’m not saying this to hurt you, I just don’t want you to be caught off guard if things don’t go how you want them to.”

“I know.” Bonnie said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“But otherwise…Damon’s completely wrapped up in you; I hope you know that too. He would be an idiot not to pick you.”

Bonnie lifted her head up to reveal a bright smile and she hugged Meredith again.

“Now, in typical female fashion…”

Meredith lead Bonnie over to the small loveseat in the study and sat her down.

“Tell me everything!”

Bonnie blushed, “Well…

In the living room, Damon sat looking through an old book, smiling to himself. His thoughts kept drifting from the words on the page to the secret images of Bonnie burned into his brain. The way her face looked absorbed in the human pleasures only he could give her, the way she panted as he dove deeper and deeper into her, how wet she felt as she slid against him…

It had been a while since he had hungered for something more than blood. He could taste her, still feel her on his lips. His thumb ran along his lips absentmindedly.

“You’re awfully quiet.” Matt spoke up.

Damon looked up at the blonde annoyance.

“Just thinking.” He stated with the most mischievous smirk appearing across his lips.

Matt quirked his lips and squinted at the most irritating Salvatore, “Do you love her?”

The smirk fell from Damon’s lips, “Do you?”

“I asked you first.” Matt challenged, but Damon could sense his nerves as his pulse picked up.

He thought for a moment before answering.

“I know I don’t want her to be with anyone but me.” Damon’s eyes stared fearlessly into Matt’s, his message direct and full of warnings to back off.

Matt snickered, “Well I’d rather her be with anyone but you.”

“Like yourself?” Damon quipped.

“Maybe.” Matt said, challenging him right back.

Damon’s lips pulled up into a half-smile as he let his eyes fall back to the book pages in his hand, “Well…it seems we are at an impasse.”

“We’ll see about that.” Matt mumbled loud enough for Damon to hear.

Damon’s half smile turned into a full one as he settled down into the couch. His tongue swiped out to lick his lips, her flavor still coated there.

The two girls emerged from the study only minutes later. Damon waited with his cocky smirk, curious to see who Bonnie would sit next to, but already knowing. The couch dipped just barely as a tiny body plopped down beside him. He looked over lazily until his eyes connected with her large, brown orbs, glistening in excitement.

“Hi!” she said, practically bouncing with joy.

Damon chuckled and threw an arm around her, pulling her into his side. She cuddled into him, pressing every inch of herself against him.

“Hi.” He replied and placed a kiss to the crown of her head, her silky curls tickling his lips.

Damon glanced up beneath his brows to shoot Mutt a cocky smile. His blue eyes rolled and Damon’s inky gaze flicked over to Meredith, sitting across from him with a knowing gaze. But he had zoned into their conversation once Bonnie had started detailing the experience to Meredith. Of course she had told her best friend. He had expected as much. Meredith seemed to be an unwilling third-wheel to their unlabeled relationship. It wasn’t exactly preferable for either of them…but they both cared about Bonnie, so it would have to do.


	15. Wounds

Meredith looked up from her laptop a little while later. Bonnie was so lucky she wasn’t taking summer class like her and Matt. Letting her eyes drift over to her best red-headed friend, she analyzed her and Damon, who’s fingers were lightly running up and down Bonnie’s arm while he read. Bonnie looked more than content as she played games on her phone. Meredith couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips. Bonnie, small and sweet, and her Salvatore brother that was anything but. They were a complete contrast, but they fit perfectly. Meredith berated herself in her head as the thought popped into her mind…they were cute together.

She shook her head to clear it and cursed herself for thinking such a thing. But she glanced up at them again and caught them lost in one another’s eyes, just staring, memorizing, falling… Smiles spread across their lips and she had never seen Damon look so in awe of anyone—not even Elena. Why couldn’t he see it? Bonnie was a better option for him. She was his match where Elena was his equal. Bonnie allowed him to be himself, where Elena would only try to turn him into his brother. He needed someone to be the submissive to his dominate personality, and Elena could never be that for him. He was so, so stupid! Meredith realized then that she would _never_ forgive him if he ever let Bonnie go.

The sky was transitioning from light to dark, the sun falling into the horizon and illuminating the clouds a brilliant pink with the remnants of its rays. The group sat outside, gathered around a small bonfire that crackled and popped. Elena was laughing as Stefan told the story of a time he accidentally busted Damon’s nose when they were children playing in the streets of 15th century Italy.

“You couldn’t kick a ball then, and I doubt you can now either.” Damon jabbed, resting back into the cushions on the wicker chair.

“I wasn’t the most athletic child.” Stefan admitted.

Bonnie got up from her seat, which Damon had pulled closer to his own.

“I’m going to go get more water.” She announced.

Lifting her foot, her flip flop caught on a raised stone in the flooring and she tripped forward. Damon reached out to catch her but her own reflexes had kicked in. She grabbed onto the nearest item, the rim of the fire pit. The heat seared her fingers and she ripped her hand away with a small scream.

Bonnie hissed as she held her injured hand in the other and stared at it.

“Ow.” She whimpered, her skin still sizzling.

Matt jumped up from his seat in alarm, “Bonnie!”

The rest sat upright, ready to help.

“Are you ok?” Elena asked, her dark blue eyes flooded with worry.

But Damon had already scooped her into his lap and was looking at her hand.

“Redbird, let me see.”

He carefully examined her hand as she gritted her teeth in pain. Across the underside of her fingers, just below her knuckles, the skin was red as the fire that burned it. The damaged skin was already forming blisters.

“Ow, ow…” Bonnie cried.

“I’ll get her some ice.” Elena announced, running into the house.

“I got the first aid kit.” Matt said, disappearing after Elena.

Damon kissed the back of Bonnie’s hand with all the softness of a feather. He could take her pain away right now if not for the crowd. He grimaced. This was ridiculous! All these prying eyes! His baby bird was in pain when she didn’t need to be. What was so bad about helping? If her drinking a couple drops of his blood meant that she would be healed, was it really so bad? But he could just picture his prude brother having a hissy fit, and Mutt attempting to fight him, and Elena…getting hurt.

With a long sigh, he held Bonnie tight and promised her he would fix her hand. Bonnie looked into his eyes and gave him a grateful smile. He kissed the tops her fingers, hoping it would distract her from the pain. It seemed to be working as the crinkles around her eyes softened and she relaxed into him. Forgetting about their audience, he let the tip of his tongue sneak out and glide over her digits before taking one into his mouth. He sucked softly and Bonnie bit down onto her bottom lip, desire flooding her chocolate pools.

Stefan flashed a look to Meredith, who was trying to fight the smile from her lips, smashing them into a straight line. Their green eyes met and Meredith raised her brows at him amusedly. Stefan sat back awkwardly in his seat, trying to avert his gaze from them. Meredith smirked as she looked over Damon. He was completely wrapped around her finger…literally.

She saw Elena coming and frantically searched for something to throw at the two looking like they were about to suck face at any second. Taking the stylus from her laptop, she chucked it at Damon, but by the look on Elena’s face, she had already noticed.

Elena returned with the ice then and froze, the coldness of the cubes seeming to shoot straight into her heart. Damon’s mouth had slipped from around two of Bonnie’s fingers just as she walked within his line of sight. He tried to play it off, thanking her for getting the ice.

“No problem.” She replied slowly, handing Damon the ice wrapped up in a towel.

She sat down next to Stefan, a sense of betrayal stirring in her heart. The wicker chair was suddenly much less comfortable than it had been minutes before.

Matt came running out with the first aid kit and kneeled in front of Bonnie as she sat on Damon’s lap. Damon ignored his presence completely and snatched the burn ointment from his hands. He spread it gently across Bonnie’s wound.

“Matt” Meredith called gently; she nodded to his seat, “Damon’s got it.”

Reluctantly, Matt set the first aid kit down and returned to his seat.

In a second, Damon had Bonnie’s hand wrapped up neatly and placed a kiss over the bandaged burn.

“You ok?” he questioned sweetly.

Bonnie smiled at him, touched by his concern, “Yes, thank you.”

Feeling Elena’s eyes on her, she stood from Damon’s lap and returned to her own seat. She turned her head to Matt, sitting to her left.

“Thank you for helping me, Matt.”

Matt shrugged, “Didn’t do much.”

“I’m still grateful.”

Matt gave her a sweet smile.

“And thank you a lot for the ice, Elena. It really helped.”

“Of course, Bonnie.”

The little red-head went to reposition herself in her seat, when Elena interrupted.

“Actually, could we go talk for a minute? Just you and me?” she asked.

Bonnie tried not to look worried as she stood up and nodded, “Yeah, sure.”

Stefan looked to Damon, noticing his brother’s expression had fallen.

“Damon, can we talk for a minute too?”

Damon looked to the dark sky and groaned.

“Come on.” Stefan coaxed.

With a roll of his eyes, Damon sprung up from his seat and walked passed his brother over to the side of the house where he knew the humans would be out of earshot. He was ready to get whatever this was over with.

Inside the house, Elena led Bonnie over to the couches and sat her down.

“I just kind of wanted to pick your brain for a minute, I guess. You’re one of my best friends, Bonnie, and I feel like we haven’t talked at all lately. So, not to be intrusive, but I couldn’t help but notice how things seem…different between you and Damon.”

Bonnie gulped underneath Elena’s probing lapis crystals.

“Has something happened between you guys?”

Bonnie’s heart jumped from a walk to a run. How did she tell her best friend that she slept with the guy she still has feelings for?! She hated lying to any of her friends, and she certainly didn’t want to lie to Elena, but what could she really say to her without causing a complete uproar? She wasn’t ready for Damon to be ripped away from her either if Elena, Stefan, or anyone besides Meredith were to find out the true extent of her and Damon’s relationship. Even if Elena didn’t freak out, she would never not tell Stefan, and he wouldn’t react well to the news of Damon feeding on her. She settled on the only thing she felt like she could say to the light-featured girl.

“We’ve…k-kissed a couple times. That’s all.” Bonnie admitted, finding even that small fact hard to say. She hung her head low, waiting for Elena to explode.

The explosion never came, at least not aloud. She heard Elena’s intake of breath. It wavered and shook the very nerves of her.

“I’m not mad at you. I know how you feel about Damon.” Elena confessed calmly.

Bonnie let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She examined Elena’s face; it hadn’t lifted at all since her admission. Her lapis eyes were serious, cold. Her full, pastel lips were turned down.

“You look upset...” Bonnie told her.

Elena shut her eyes a moment, collecting herself before she spoke.

“I’m not mad, Bonnie. I just—”

She stopped herself, tucking her silken, gold strands behind one ear. Bonnie waited anxiously, twiddling her fingers in her lap.

“It’s hard to hear, you know? I still have feelings for him that I’m trying to figure out and this just—it makes things more complicated.” The golden-haired girl explained as nicely as she could manage.

Bonnie nodded, understanding Elena’s pain. She often felt the same with every glance Damon shot Elena’s way.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to—”

Elena held up a hand and shook her head, “Don’t apologize. I get it. Damon has a way of drawing you in that’s hard to ignore.”

“It’s not just that…” Bonnie countered.

Elena looked at her curiously.

“I have feelings for him. Strong feelings.” Bonnie explained shyly.

Elena’s eyes saddened and she leaned over, wrapping her arms around the small, strawberry girl.

“So do I.” Elena whispered into her shoulder.

Tears sprung in Bonnie’s chocolatey pools as she hugged her best friend and wished her rival the worst all at once.

“But Bonnie,” Elena began, pulling back from their embrace, “Damon is dangerous.”

Bonnie’s brows furrowed as she stared into Elena’s deep blue pools, which met hers with reluctance.

“I just—well, I worry. I know how Damon can be and I don’t want him manipulating you.”

Bonnie opened her mouth to protest, but Elena was speaking again.

“Don’t you think you’d be better with…Matt, or someone like that? Nicer? More gentle?”

Bonnie felt the anger simmering inside her combust into flames. She could relate to Elena, she could understand her…she could even accept Elena’s feelings. But she could not accept her best friend, who already had a boyfriend for that matter, trying to question her fit for Damon! Was she just trying to get her out of the way? Is this what things had come to?

Bonnie stood from the couch, appalled, “I don’t want Matt, Elena. No matter how nice he is.”

Elena stood too, “It doesn’t have to be Matt. I just don’t know if you’re ready for someone like Damon, is all. I’ve been through a lot with him and I don’t think you really understand how intense he—”

“I understand Damon, Elena!” Bonnie shouted.

Bonnie saw the hint of rage that glinted in Elena’s blue eyes, “You’re just so naïve, Bonnie. And I’m sorry you don’t like hearing this, but it needs to be said. I don’t think Damon’s good for you.”

“Oh, but he’s good for you?” Bonnie retorted, challenging her.

Elena was trying hard to keep her cool, Bonnie could tell. But she wasn’t backing down tonight.

“I know how to handle him better is all I’m say—”

“I got it Elena! I could never know Damon like you could! Because no one will ever know Damon like you; at least that’s what you’ll tell yourself because you’re terrified that you made the wrong choice!”

Tears spilled over Bonnie’s stinging eyes, “Well guess what, Elena? You chose Stefan! And that means that Damon can be with someone other than you!”

A few tears slipped from Elena’s eyes, but she wiped them quickly. She was stunned at Bonnie’s outburst and unable to form a response. So they just stared at one another in silence, brown and blue eyes both filled to the brim with angry tears.

Bonnie spun around, her back to Elena, and stormed from the boarding house back outside. She sat down in her chair with an angered plop, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Where’s Damon?” she asked quickly, watching the flames of the fire whip the air.

Matt gestured over to the side of the house, “Stefan went to talk to him. Where’s Elena? Is everything ok?”

“Fine.” Bonnie whispered hotly.

Elena came back outside just then, walking over and flipping her long blonde hair back as she settled into a seat across from Bonnie. Her expression was the same, suppressed and focused on whatever thoughts were tormenting her mind.

Around the side of the boarding house, Damon and Stefan stood in a tiny patch of light cast down on them by a lamp outstretched from the side of the house’s stone wall.

Damon turned to Stefan, already exasperated.

“What do you want to talk about, little brother?”

“What’s actually going on between you and Bonnie, Damon?”

Damon’s eyes narrowed, “Why does it matter, _Stefan_?”

Stefan lifted a hand toward the fire pit yards away, his expression incredulous.

“Damon, you just had Bonnie’s fingers in your mouth like we weren’t even there!”

Damon shrugged, his expression locked completely, giving nothing away, “So? She was in pain. I was doing what I could to take it away.”

Stefan stared at him seriously, not buying a single word from his brother’s mouth.

“Bonnie’s my friend too, Damon. I care about her. I just want to make sure you aren’t hurting her…or planning to. Can’t you understand th—”

“I’m not going to hurt her, Stefan! I would _never_ hurt her!” Damon snapped, his voice gravelly.

Stefan caught a glimpse of the passion in Damon’s eyes and nodded, satisfied.

“Ok.” He said simply.

Damon huffed and repositioned his stance, relaxing a little.

“So are we done here?”

Stefan nodded and Damon swiftly turned his back to his brother, eager to get back to the campfire.

“Damon,” called Stefan.

Damon froze, gritting his teeth.

“Don’t play games with her heart…” Stefan added.

Damon glance back over his shoulder, “I never try to.”

Taking a few steps forward, feeling the grass crunch under his boots, Damon turned back to Stefan, looking lost in conflicting thoughts.

“Coming, brother?”

Stefan snapped from his deep thoughts and followed.

As they approached the fire pit, the brothers noticed Elena and Bonnie had returned. Damon could only see the back of Bonnie’s head, crimson curls billowing over the chair she sat in. His gaze went to Elena, sitting stiffly in her chair, looking down at a glass held between two manicured hands. She was unhappy. Damon wondered how Bonnie looked then. He felt Stefan’s eyes on him and he turned his head to meet his gaze. They shared a look of concern, both wondering the same thing. What had happened?

Something in Damon wanted to sit by Elena, hear her side of the story first, comfort her. But he had a role to fulfill, and he couldn’t let his redbird down right now. He had to let Stefan fulfill his duty as Elena’s boyfriend as well. With a nod to Stefan, and one returned to him, the brothers took their seats by their respective lovers.

As soon as Damon sat down, his eyes were on Bonnie’s face. It was red, flustered, her eyes glistened with tears. Yeah, something had definitely gone wrong between them. Now it was Damon’s turn to be concerned. What had she told Elena? A million and one possibilities raced through his mind. Damon hadn’t thought of it earlier, but now a giant pit grew in his stomach. What if she knew about their intimacy? Surely she wouldn’t have told Elena that…right?

_Did you tell her?_

He couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Bonnie shook her head just enough for him to notice. Of course he was only thinking about that. Worrying about what Elena knew and not how she felt… She should have predicted it. It was inevitable. He probably regretted what they did now that he had time to think about it.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she was the first to speak.

“I’m tired. I’m going to go to bed.” She announced.

She kept her eyes on her own movements, not daring to let them drift to Damon even once. She needed to get out of this circle, clear her mind.

_Bonnie…_

Damon’s voice entered her mind as she walked back into the boarding house. She ignored it, shutting off their connection.


	16. Nails

Slamming the door shut behind her, Bonnie sat on the edge of her bed and let the tears flow free. She cried for herself, her friends, the lies she had told, the secrets she was keeping, the dwindling hope she had that Damon would ever be hers…

Finally drying her eyes, she got up the strength to take herself to the shower. She flicked on the lights and turned on the water. She shimmied from her skirt, letting it fall at her feet. Making a pile, she stepped out of the skirt and threw her top down on top of it. Unhooking her push-up bra and pushing down her panties, she let them both fall into the pile of dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. Pulling the curtain too, she adjusted the water to just the right temperature and let it flow over her body. She froze as the bathroom door suddenly opened. Instinctively, she covered herself.

“Who’s there?” she called.

The shadow of the figure gave no response, only rustling with something. Her heart pounded as she saw the outline of a toned male body. The curtain was yanked back abruptly and a completely naked Damon stepped into the shower nonchalantly, like she wasn’t even standing there. Brown orbs bulging, she gasped and threw herself around, her arms clamped over her small boobs. Her heart raced, the steam coated the air thick, making it hard for her to breath. Her head felt dizzier with every thump of her heart; she was sure she would faint at any second.

Damon’s wet footsteps padded across the porcelain tub and then his bare chest was pressed against her back. She startled and his hand came up and grabbed her around the jaw. She went rigid against him as his lips landed at her ear.

“Why are you blocking me out?”

She ignored his question, “What are you doing in here?!”

His hand unclasped from her jaw and his fingertips trailed down her throat.

“Getting answers to the questions you keep blocking.”

“Y-You could’ve waited until I was done.” She shot back, her pulse still pattering in her chest.

“You could’ve not blocked me out and avoided this whole thing.” Damon retorted, letting his hands run down the sides of her body all the way to her hips where he let his middle finger slide into the crease of her thigh.

Bonnie shivered and tried to close her thighs tighter, blocking him out. His lips latched onto her shoulder, placing dangerously slow kisses across the skin there. She tried to fight the urges stirring in her abdomen. Thoughts of their time in his car flashed in her mind and her damp curls fell back against him. The steam seemed almost cool now compared to her heated skin.

His lips returned to her ear, “Now that I’ve answered your question, let’s go back to mine. Why are you blocking me out?”

Bonnie was becoming helpless against him as he dragged his teeth down the side of her neck.

“Because you—you regret it…” she responded breathlessly.

Bonnie was forced from her pleasure-state as Damon tore his body from hers. His hands came to her shoulder and whipped her around to face him. One hand shot down to cover her feminine regions, the other still clamped tight to her breast, making the tops bubble over her arm. But Damon’s eyes weren’t looking over her body, they were serious as they bore into hers.

“You think I regret having sex with you?” he asked with a quirk of his brows.

It was all Bonnie could do to keep her eyes from drifting down South.

“Don’t you?” she asked, hearing her heart pound in her ears.

In an instant, her back was against the cool shower wall. Her legs were wrapped around his narrow waist and his chest was pressed against hers.

“I will never regret you.”

Bonnie stared into his intrusive eyes and watched as black of his eyes stirred red like drops of paint mixing into water, the clouds of color swelled and eclipsed the midnight with maroon. He opened his mouth, letting the tips of his fangs show beneath his lips. Bonnie reached up and traced a finger over the outline of his lips. The tiny veins spread out beneath his eyes.

“Let me heal your hand.” He suggested, his tone dripping with lust.

Bonnie knew what that meant by now, and it was tempting.

“I promised Meredith…” she reminded him.

“I didn’t.”

Bonnie froze as she felt something touch her bottom. Damon smirked, and the red of his eyes made the smirk that much more sinful. She squirmed against him, desire pooling at her center. Damon chuckled darkly and tore into his wrist. Trails of blood ran down his arm and Bonnie was torn between two types of pleasure.

Her gaze flew back to Damon’s as he positioned himself at her entrance. His obsidian eyes claimed hers, drowning in desire.

“I’ll stop if you want me to.” He breathed.

Bonnie let out a shallow breath and brought his wrist to her mouth, fastening her lips around his bloody cut. She sucked in his blood, letting the metallic taste sweep over her tongue just as Damon thrust into her. He groaned and dove for her throat, penetrating there too. Pleasure whirled in his groin and burst outwards to every region of his body as her blood flowed down his throat. He was sure the feeling would drive him to his knees.

Bonnie cried out against his skin as ecstasy washed over her entire body, igniting every fiber of her being as Damon rocked his hips against hers. With one hand frantically holding his wrist to her mouth, she used the other to fist in the back of his hair.

Damon sucked her in feverishly and blood ran in streams between their wet bodies, coloring the water at his feet crimson. He pulled his fangs from her throat only briefly to focus on the pleasure of being inside her. She was getting tighter and tighter around him with each thrust, and his head had gone entirely hazy.

“Shit!” he exclaimed, driving further and further into her.

His eyes studied her face, as her moaned grew in volume. Blood dripped down her chin from its place at his wrist, her brows were furrowed over her closed eyes, and her pale skin was flushed completely pink. Just as he admired her, her swollen lips pulled back from his wrist and her head fell back against the shower wall.

“Damon,” she cried out through a moan.

He clamped a hand over her mouth just as she contracted around him, her thighs crushing their softness into his hips. Thrusting once, twice more he followed her into her release as he buried his face into her cherry-stained skin to muffle his own moan, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.

Pleasure still lingering in his body, he sealed their puncture wounds to stop the bleeding and pulled himself out of the panting red-head in his arms. Slowly letting her feet drop to the ground, and shivering at the feeling of her body sliding down his own, he pulled them both under the stream of the water, which had gone lukewarm. He turned the faucet, heating up the water and letting their messes wash away in its cleansing properties.

The tiny witch clung to him, keeping her front pressed to his as her arms circled lazily around his waist. She was still trying to catch her breath and weakened from the intensity of their intimacy. Damon held most of her weight up with one arm and pulled her chin up with the other.

“Don’t _ever_ block me out again.” he said and kissed her with a ferocity that took the remainder of her breath away.

“Promise.” She answered once their kiss broke and his lips lingered centimeters from hers.

The depths of her mind wondered if she would actually be able to keep this one as she rested her drenched head against his chest and examined her newly healed burn.

Damon lounged across her fluffy, pink comforter in nothing but a pair of black joggers. His hair was still damp at the tips as he flipped through the pages of one of Bonnie’s magazines. The little red-head jostled as she resituated herself between his legs and spread out an array of nail polish at her feet. She tapped her lip with her index finger as she looked over all the color options.

Her sigh beat against his eardrums, distracting him from the colorful pages of the magazine, and he lowered it. Sitting upright, he pressed his chest into her back and looked over her shoulder.

“Pink looks nice on you.” He offered, hoping to help her make a decision.

Bonnie smiled and rearranged her selection. Putting all the other colors back in a bag, she placed four different shades of pink in a row.

“Which shade?” she asked.

Damon looked over each pink nail polish. The differences between two of the shades was so minute he was amazed that she could even tell there was a difference. It took all of his superhuman eyesight just to be able to tell that one was slightly more red than the other.

He pointed to the slightly lesser red pink, “Well first off, this one, and this one” he pointed to its near identical partner, “are basically the same.”

Bonnie held up the redder shade, “No! This one is hot pink and the other is like lighter, hot pink.”

Damon shook his head, and blinked once, hard, “Ok then. Well I think that you should go with this one.”

Damon pointed to the last polish, which was a pastel pink.

Bonnie nodded in agreement, “Ok!”

Damon sat back with a smile, feeling accomplished as he watched her untwist the pink polish and begin applying it with the utmost caution. A mischievous grin grew on his lips as an idea popped into his head. Gauging the right moment, he nudged her arm with his knee just as she went for the second nail.

Bonnie made a small squeak as she nearly painted all the way up her middle finger. She heard Damon laughing behind her and twirled around, glaring daggers. His laughs quieted to a chuckled and he flashed her a feigned frown.

“Aww, did you almost mess up?” he teased in his best baby-voice.

“You’re mean!” she jabbed, trying to fight the smile from her lips.

Damon leaned down to her and snaked his hand around her until it was between her legs. He mentally cursed the flimsy sleep shorts she had on for blocking him. He felt her gasp just before her heartbeat took off on its usual run. He wrapped his other arm around her middle.

“And you’re not close enough,” he whispered and yanked her backwards into him.

He leaned back into her pillows and continued reading. Bonnie blushed at the feeling of him against her back; she didn’t know if she would ever get used to it, even though they had had sex twice now. Despite her insecurities, she settled into him and continued painting her nails.

Finishing up her left hand, she switched the paint brush to her left hand and paused. She always forgot how much trouble she had with this part. Just before the brush could touch her nail, Damon’s hand wrapped around hers. Without a word, he took the brush from her hand and lifted up her unpainted nails in the other. Re-dipping the brush, he began to paint.

“You know how to paint?” Bonnie asked, astonished as he perfectly painted the first nail like a pro.

“Well, no. But my hands are a lot steadier than yours, and I have much more control over my body, so I figured I’d be bound to at least do this better than you.”

“More control over your body, huh?” she giggled bashfully and wiggled her butt playfully against the slightly harder part of him poking into her.

Damon dove his head into her curls and bit down on her neck, making her squeal.

“Shh!” he hushed her harshly as she giggled.

She watched carefully as he resumed painting until a question popped into her mind.

“Why hasn’t that happened before? Like, the other times we’ve kissed and been close and stuff?”

Damon focused on her pinky as he painted its tiny nail, “I told you, I have much more control over my body than a human.”

“So…?”

Damon blew once over her nails before going in to apply a second coat, “So I kept it from happening. Many, many times.”

Bonnie’s eyes went wide, “Really?”

Damon snickered, “If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m very attracted to you.”

Bonnie smiled meekly, “I’ve noticed.”

Damon twisted the nail polish shut and brushed her curls aside to nibble on her ear. Bonnie squirmed, laughing at the sensation. His lips tugged into a smile as he bit down softly on her earlobe.

He pulled away from her and fell back into the pillows again, “Now don’t touch anything, before you ruin my work.”

A knock sounded on her door and they both froze; it was an automatic response by now.

“It’s me.” A muffled voice came through the wooden door.

Recognizing the owner of the voice, Bonnie and Damon both relaxed.

“Come in!” Bonnie called.

Meredith opened the door halfway and stepped inside. She halted as soon as her eyes landed on Damon. She narrowed her eyes at him and he smiled haughtily.

“Deflowerer!” she spat, stepping in the rest of the way and closing the door behind her.

“If you’re trying to make me feel bad about having sex with your best friend, you’re wasting your time. I. _don’t._ ” Damon emphasized, a cocky smirk on his lips.

Bonnie blushed hard and she chucked a small decorative pillow at the arrogant vampire. He caught it without a single blink of an eye.

Meredith’s emerald irises rolled, “Well then could you at least keep it down if you don’t feel bad about it? Because I just had to convince everyone that the _thumping_ they were hearing from downstairs was the pipes in your bathroom!”

Bonnie flung her hands up to her face and covered it, completely mortified. Damon remained still, clearly uneasy.

“By the way, Stefan is calling someone in the morning to come check out your bathroom.” Meredith added, her tone of voice easing back into calmness.

“I’m sorry, Meredith.” Came Bonnie’s muffled apology as she spoke through her hands.

“It’s ok, just…maybe don’t have sex in the shower anymore.” She said, casting an accusatory glance at Damon.

Damon let his head hit the pillows and chuckled, “Is this another rule? Because we’ve already—”

Bonnie pounced, throwing herself on top of Damon and clamping a hand over his mouth. His midnight eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked at her.

“Already what?” Meredith questioned.

Bonnie’s head whipped to Meredith, “Nothing!”

Her chocolate orbs were bugged, her demeanor frantic. Something was definitely up. She wondered if it was Damon as he took a little too much of a liking to Bonnie’s position on top of him and ran his hands down her body to her butt. He squeezed the mounds of soft flesh hard, and Bonnie squeaked softly.

Meredith sighed, “You did the blood thing again, didn’t you?”

Bonnie let out her own sigh of defeat and dropped her hand from Damon’s mouth. She let her head fall forward into Damon’s chest and groaned. He reached up and twirled his fingers in her scarlet tendrils.

_Do you want me to lie?_

Bonnie gently shook her head into his skin.

Damon looked up at an impatient Meredith and licked his lips, “ _I_ never promised you that I wouldn’t drink her blood.”

“You broke our pinky promise?!”

Bonnie didn’t need to look at Meredith to know how her face looked. She could hear it clearly in her tone, offense. She flinched.

“Let me see your hand!” Meredith ordered, holding her own long-nailed hand out.

Cautiously, Bonnie lifted up from Damon’s chest and twisted around to face her scary friend. She kept her “wounded” hand clutched to her chest, hiding it from view.

“Come on! Give it up.” Meredith commanded, shoving her hand further forward.

Reluctantly, Bonnie uncovered her hand, pouting as she laid it in Meredith’s longer one. She averted her gaze and squeezed her eyes shut as she braced for Meredith’s yelling.

Meredith studied Bonnie’s small hand in hers, the burn had been completely healed up. Her skin was soft and new, like it had never even been blistering and inflamed in the first place. Her eyes flicked up to Damon’s, and she had never wanted to slap someone so hard. The smug smirk he wore cut her already short fuse in half. But she had to admit…Damon had helped better than any one of them were able to.

“Hmm…effective.” She stated, dropping her hand from Bonnie’s.

Bonnie slowly turned her head and peaked at Meredith, still braced for her to blow up. But her friend’s face wasn’t angry, or happy, it was just…blank.

“I’m sorry for breaking our promise, Meredith!” Bonnie cried, still unconvinced that her best friend wasn’t going to explode at any moment.

Meredith sighed defeatedly, “At least your hand is healed.”

“You’re not mad?”

Meredith threw her eyes up to the ceiling, “I mean, I’m not happy, but I can’t make decisions for you either, so…”

She shrugged and Bonnie smiled.

Damon crossed his arms over his bare chest, “So you’re ok with me drinking from her?”

Meredith shook her head to avoid staring at his muscles for too long. He really was very good looking, but she be damned before she let him know that.

“’Ok’ is a strong word…” she shifted, weighing the word on her tongue, “It’s more like, I accept my friend’s decision.”

“I’m taking that as a ‘yes’,” Damon smirked.

“Thank you,” Bonnie said, beaming.

Meredith couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“But anyway, I’m gonna head to my room. So you guys can get back to, uhm…doing each other’s nails.”

She put her hands together in prayer formation and looked to Bonnie, “Please, please give him pink nails!”

“I think black is more my color.” Damon joked, pretending to admire his nails.

Bonnie giggled as Meredith rolled her eyes and reached for the door handle.

“You’ll do whatever she wants because she’s giving you everything she has.” Meredith snapped with a glare thrown over her shoulder as she slipped from the room.

Bonnie blushed as Damon grimaced at the place the annoying girl had just stood. The small red-head tucked a strand of curls behind her ear and began to gather her nail polishes. She felt his arms snake around her torso as he leaned into her back. Damon thought for a moment as he listened to her heart flutter at his touch.

“Can I ask you a question about tonight?” he began slowly, studying Bonnie’s cute profile.

Bonnie’s large brown orbs landed on his, rounded and curious beneath starry lashes. He shifted his gaze down to her rosebud lips and desire raced through his veins. He wanted to kiss that miraculous mouth; wanted to see more of what it was capable of. Those lips had already driven him to countless unspeakable actions, poisoned him with the taste of her.

“Why are you upset with Elena?” he asked, relieving her tension just the slightest.

Bonnie’s eyes dropped from his charcoal ones, “Oh. Um…well she seemed worried about me mostly.”

Realization dawned on Damon, “Because you’re with me a lot?”

Her curls swayed as she nodded.

“She doesn’t want me to be with you.” She continued in a weaker voice, bowing her head.

Damon searched her face frantically for answers, “Why?”

“Because she…” Bonnie’s voice fell out as she couldn’t seem to find the strength to finish.

How did she explain this—without him leaving? Surely he knew already anyway though, right? He had to. He…

“ _What_ , Bonnie?!” Damon pushed, shaking her slightly.

Bonnie startled, and tears immediately pooled in her eyes.

“She still has feelings for you…”

She squeezed her eyes closed, pushing tears from her eyes, and braced herself for Damon’s departure. Cool air washed over her back as his presence disappeared and she felt him leave the bed. She cried harder, as the sobs she was trying to hold back sprang from her throat.

Damon’s hands ran over the tops of her thighs.

“Redbird…” his soft voice called for her attention.

She opened her reddened eyes and sniffed. He knelt in front of her, at the foot of her bed; his dark eyes boring up into hers.

“Listen to me…”

Bonnie attempted to dry her tears, but her heart was pounding, fearing his leave.

“I have feelings for Elena. You know this. It isn’t anything knew. I told you where I stood with this last week. It’s still where I stand now, but I have been trying so hard to do right by you. I _hate_ hurting you. But I don’t know what to do about it sometimes. I can’t just ignore Elena for you. I can’t just ignore those feelings, Bonnie!”

The young witch’s lower lip quivered, a few more tears falling down her cheeks as she tried hard not to let the ache in her chest overwhelm her. But her head hung low, unable to look at him while he spoke of Elena. She knew the moment she looked into his eyes she would crumble.

“But I also can’t ignore my feelings for you.”

Bonnie’s eyes shot to his and he wasted no time taking her face between his hands. His nose brushed hers and Bonnie’s skin turned to gooseflesh at the intensity of him; the way his nails lightly dug into her scalp, the depth of his stare, and the turmoil that swirled in the abyss of his irises.

“I don’t know what you’ve done to me.” He breathed.

Bonnie’s back hit the bed as he crawled on top of her and traced the side of her face, wiping away stray tears.

“I can’t…” Damon choked up, pressing his forehead to hers.

“I can’t be with her when it means losing you.”

Tears brimmed Damon’s eyes, and Bonnie could feel his heart in that moment. She could feel every ache it bore, every tear it endured, and how it pulled in two separate directions. She wanted to yell—to _scream_ at him to choose her. Just be with her and stay forever! She would mend his heart. But she couldn’t…

Taking in the shakiest of breaths, she forced the words from her mouth, “I-I think you should talk to her. Talk to Elena. Sort out your feelings.”

She paused before continuing, searching his broken eyes, “I can’t share your heart with someone else. Not after—all we’ve done.”

“Is this an ultimatum? If I don’t talk to her you’re—what? Are you going to leave me?”

The waver of his voice sliced into her heart and she flinched, “No. I’m not that strong.”

Damon brushed her tears away as they began to trail down her cheeks and into her hair. Taking her up in his arms, he laid her head down onto her favorite pillow and lie down next to her. He pulled her body into his, spooning her with his arm wrapped tightly around her. She wound slender fingers through his, entangling their hands and cuddling into him as she sniffed and wiped at her eyes. Damon soothed her, tracing his fingers softly across her bare shoulder and down the length of her arm while he squeezed her hand in his. They lay there for an hour, neither speaking a sound, only holding onto each other desperately and waiting for sleep to take them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, that was it for this update. Until next time! I hope it met expectations. :)


	17. Messy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update on here. I've been so busy organizing my life and trying to get things together. Haha! Regardless, I'm hoping to get all the chapters uploaded now. Thank you everyone for so much support and kind words. I hope you all are doing well and staying safe in these weird times. Happy reading! <3

The next morning had awoken them in a flurry of heat as the night’s sorrow was washed away with the warmth of the rising sun. Their bodies were crushed together, not an inch of space between them as Damon claimed and reclaimed her lips in passionate kisses. Bonnie feverishly returned his kisses, clawing her nails across his skin and through his thick hair. His kisses left her lips, trailing down her jaw and spending time sucking and biting her neck before going lower. He sucked hard, leaving love bites over her chest and down her stomach until he reached her thigh. His fangs lengthened and he bit uncontrollably, burying his most sensitive teeth into the cushion of her inner thigh and feeling the heat of her blood rush into his mouth.

Bonnie yelped in pain and screwed up her face. Damon pulled back and looked up from between her legs.

“No, I can take it. Don’t stop.” Bonnie assured him.

The desire in her chocolate pools was enough to convince him and he dove for her thigh once more. He didn’t take much blood from her as he sucked lightly, only craving his fangs buried deep in her flesh. After a few minutes he had made a trail of puncture wounds almost all the way down to her knee. Bonnie was whimpering softly, having pushed the pain away to enjoy the pleasure of his fangs sunken into her skin.

“Damon, I—”

His mouth was on hers in a second, silencing her. With a quick rip, Damon had torn the thin panties from her body. Shoving his pants down, he was pushing inside of her before she even had a second to catch her breath. Careful not to make the bed rock, Damon thrust slowly but forcefully until Bonnie was writhing beneath him. Their breaths mingled, and he was all hers as each moan that left her mouth drove him closer to the edge. He closed his hand over her mouth as she contracted around him and screamed into his hand. He felt feral as he couldn’t stop his fangs from lengthening. He knew his eyes were turning monstrous his desires switched from his own release to her blood. But he didn’t have time to choose.

Damon dove for Bonnie’s throat, biting into her hard until he tasted her flavor. Just as her blood hit his tongue the human desire in him surged forward and he finished inside of her, thrusting just as hard as he bit. Bonnie was moaning softly, but he knew it was of the pain of him biting so aggressively. Wanting her to share in his pleasure, he used his inhumanly strong nails to make a small cut in his wrist. He held it up to her lips and she latched on. Damon smirked into her skin as he listened to her pain turn to euphoria.

After only a few seconds Damon was pulling his wrist from her mouth and retracting his fangs from her neck, the consequences of cleaning her bed stirring dread in his mind. They smiled at one another and Damon kissed her once more before pulling out of her and standing from the bed.

He licked his lips slowly, savoring her flavor. Bonnie’s mouth dropped open in awe as she watched him languidly lick over his full lower lip. A shiver ran down her spine and she trembled softly, still feeling the pleasure he gave her.

Damon chuckled darkly at her mesmerized stare and gave her a lazy smirk as he sauntered into her bathroom, “Get dressed.”

Bonnie let out a held breath and raked her fingers through her curls. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her body. Biting down onto her bottom lip, a smile spread across her lips. Every time with him felt like a dream.

The red-head skipped a little as she brought her blood-stained pillow case to the washing machine. She was dressed in a baggy t-shirt that went all the way up to the base of her neck, helping to cover most of the hickies. A quick use of some cover-up and her hair had hid the rest lining her neck. She held the pillowcase tight to her chest in case she ran into anyone. But she couldn’t fathom it, her mind was still in bliss.

She froze as she saw Meredith already at the washing machine, loading it up with her own clothes. Their eyes connected and Meredith sighed as she saw the pillowcase in Bonnie’s hand. The small girl smiled bashfully, hanging her head in guilt.

Meredith reach a long arm out to her, “What’s the damage?”

Bonnie walked closer and handed the pillowcase over. Meredith examined the small blood stain and tossed it quickly into the washing machine with her stuff.

“It should come out easily. I’ll wash it for you.”

Bonnie perked up and smiled gratefully at her friend, “You don’t have—”

Meredith held up a hand, cutting her off, and then shrugged.

“It’s no big deal. I’m just thankful it wasn’t your whole bed.”

Her eyes bulged abruptly and she looked at Bonnie, “This _is_ it, right?”

Bonnie couldn’t help her giggle as she nodded, “Yeah.”

Meredith threw her head back, letting her long brunette hair reach her lower back, “Oh, thank God!”

Damon passed them on his way downstairs, giving Bonnie a once over as he walked by. Bonnie threw a small smile over her shoulder at him and he smirked and nodded for her to follow. She nodded back, agreeing silently.

Meredith was smiling knowingly at their exchanged as Bonnie turned back to her.

“What?” Bonnie asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Meredith smirked coyly, “Oh nothing!”

Bonnie turned to follow Damon down the stairs.

“Try not to slip and fall on his dick on your way down.” She called out just loudly enough for Bonnie to hear.

Bonnie whipped her head around, her jaw dropped open wide. The olive-skinned girl laughed hard.

Matt walked out into the hallway then and paused, his face scrunched in confusion as he looked from Meredith to a vaguely offended Bonnie.

“What…?” Matt began, raising a hand.

Bonnie ran down the stairs, leaving Meredith to laugh alone as she shewed Matt off with one hand.

“Girl stuff.” She said, an amused smile plastered on her lips.

Elena and Stefan were already in the kitchen as Bonnie shuffled in, immediately in search of her dark lover. Damon waltzed in from the dining room, holding some dirty plates and grumbling over Matt’s habits. Elena laughed at his ramblings as he politely took the dirty coffee cup from her hand and added it to the sink. Bonnie took in a calming breath and pushed her jealousy down.

Elena slide an arm around Damon’s waist as she brought a dirty pan over to the sink where he stood, scrubbing away at the dishes. She would not become that person. Ignoring the crazy scenarios running a rampage in her head, she forced herself to turn her back to them and reached for the cabinet door.

Opening it, she saw one bowl just out of her reach. She hopped a little with her arm stretched out as far as it would go. She huffed and began to rethink her breakfast options.

A broad chest pressed against her back and a longer, bulkier arm reached up and easily grabbed the bowl down. A musky scent enveloped her nostrils and she smiled as Damon turned her around and lifted her by her under arms onto the countertop. He put a hand on either side of her thighs and leaned into her just the slightest bit.

“I can make you breakfast…what do you want?” he asked huskily with a suggestive quirk of his brows, his gaze drifting involuntarily to her lips.

He was distracting, Bonnie decided as she attempted to think of what she wanted to eat but could only come up with things she wanted him to do to her.

“Um…” she thought hard, watching Damon’s smirk appear.

He knew what he was doing.

Elena sighed behind Damon and started offering suggestions.

“There’s eggs, cereal, frozen waffles, pancakes…”

“I can make you a pancake.” Damon offered, trying desperately to keep his eyes away from her mouth and faltering.

Elena scoffed, “You can’t even make pancakes.”

Damon half turned to her, still keeping one hand next to Bonnie’s thigh, “You still ate them, didn’t you?”

Elena’s lapis gems rolled in her head, “Well if you make her one, then I want one too!”

Damon chuckled, “I knew you liked them.”

Bonnie wriggled, attempting to get off the counter. Damon caught her, sliding her down his body until her feet hit the floor. He let his hands drift, feeling every small curve of her as she slid. He quickly took his hands from her, pretending like nothing happened as he turned away and searched for the griddle beneath the counter.

Elena shot Bonnie a look that told her they were still very much at odds, but Bonnie could see a hint of sadness in those deep blue eyes. She knew hers conveyed the same message. Breaking their stare, Elena moved to the dining room. Bonnie followed timidly behind. The chairs’ wooden feet scraped across the woven rug under the table as each girl pulled it back and sat down.

The room held only faint noises of skin scratching and a few hard breaths before Elena’s voice broke the sound barrier.

“How’s your hand?”

Bonnie looked down to her wrapped “wound” and shrugged, “It’s fine.”

Elena nodded casually and then her face went blank as her eyes landed on a part of Bonnie she couldn’t quite devise.

Bonnie touched herself self-consciously, trying to follow Elena’s line of sight.

“What? What is it?” Bonnie asked, her inner self becoming more panic-stricken by the second.

Elena propped an elbow onto the table and pointed a slender finger toward Bonnie. Her lapis crystals narrowed as she tilted her head to the side quizzically.

“I-Is that…?” Elena couldn’t find the will to finish as the anger inside her raged, the flames licking her vocal cords. She clamped her mouth shut, too smart to jump to conclusions.

Bonnie’s eyes went wide and she gulped as she instantly knew what Elena was talking about. She had sworn she had covered it perfectly in the mirror this morning. And her hair! She cursed herself as she realized she had unintentionally swooshed it from the part of her skin it was supposed to be shielding from prying eyes. Her hand shot up to cover Damon’s love bite.

“It’s um…” he voice wavered as she frantically searched her mind for a good excuse.

“It looks like a hickey.” Elena said through nearly clenched teeth.

Bonnie’s heart thudded loudly in her ears as she felt the fire rolling off Elena.

“No!” She lied instinctually, “It’s—uh…”

Elena shot up from her seat and marched around the table to Bonnie. Adrenaline pumping through her heated veins, she ripped Bonnie’s hand from the red spot just below her ear. It wasn’t just red, it was faintly purple in the center where the pale makeup was most translucent.

Elena jumped back from the red-head as if she had just gotten stung.

Bonnie stood from her seat then, sorrow contorting her brows, “Elena, I’m so—”

“How could you?!” Elena burst, the blue of her eyes taking on the resemblance of flames more than jewels now.

Bonnie flinched and cowered back, feeling all of two feet tall compared to Elena’s ten feet.

“This is how you react to me telling you how I feel about him?! You go behind my back and try to take him away from me?!” Tears filled Elena’s eyes to the brim, but her voice hadn’t shown the slightest hint of wavering.

Bonnie opened her mouth, but Elena was raging on.

“You’re supposed to be my friend!” she spat, and the words hit Bonnie like knives.

“I told you how I feel!” Bonnie cried, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Damon came rushing into the dining room then, standing halfway between both of them. His eyes were wide with worry.

“What the hell is going on?!” he said, effectively keeping Elena from spitting more daggers at a helpless Bonnie.

He looked between the two girls, both crying, although one much harder than the other. Truthfully though, he knew he didn’t actually need the answer. He was sure he already knew. Elena’s eyes fell on him with disgust and his heart twisted at the sight. She was dead silent as stray tears trickled down her alabaster skin. Damon wanted to fall to his knees right then and beg for her forgiveness. A sight so grueling as seeing an angel cry shattered his soul. But the tiny whimpers coming from his little bird were pulling him inevitably toward her. He planted his feet firmly to the ground, he would not be forced to choose here, not now, not when everything was such a mess.

“She saw my neck. I’m sorry, Damon. Please don’t be mad.” Bonnie cried into her hands.

Damon took the necessary steps towards her and brushed her hair gently aside. The red and purple hickey stared back at him like a wicked sign of karma. Letting out his long held breath, he turned to Elena with apologetic eyes.

“How long?!” Elena snapped and the ice stabbed directly into Damon’s heart.

He couldn’t choose. Not now. The notion of having to choose rattled him to his core, and he refuted it. He had to fix this, to mend it somehow. But this would never work if he wasn’t honest.

“Just the past few days.” The admission throwing his heart into turmoil as Elena stiffened and dug her nails into her palms. He ached to soothe her pain.

“You went behind my back. You knew how I felt! _Both_ of you…but especially you, Bonnie!” Elena shouted, her voice thick with tears.

Bonnie shook as regret ebbed through her, pulling her into insanity. But some part of her wouldn’t give in to this pull, it stayed strong and still in its stand. She had feelings for him and Elena was with Stefan. Damon was an unattached man. She was not guilty, she was in love. Beating the pain back, Bonnie found her voice.

“And you knew how I felt! I told you! I told you I had strong feelings! I told you we had kissed!” she shouted back, giving her all to fight for Damon’s heart.

“You said you kissed! _That_ is more than kissing!” Elena hissed.

Something inside Bonnie burst and her veins boiled, but her voice was eerily calm, “You’re right, Elena. It is more than kissing because we haven’t just kissed.”

She paused, feeling the tension of the room reaching its peak. Damon stared at her incredulously, and she knew this would make or break them. But she was too furious and prattled on.

“We slept together!” she yelled, her chest heaving under hot, labored breaths.

Elena looked to Damon, utterly in shock and desperate for him to lie. Bonnie waited for his response, jittery as she swallowed the lump in her throat threatening to make her burst into hysterics at any second.

Raking a hand through disheveled raven tendrils, Damon battled in his head. He could lie, he could mend everything with Elena right now and have her at his side. But that would completely shut himself off from his favorite red-head, and the mere thought of that sent him spiraling into a very dark place. With a heavy sigh and a dreadful look to the ceiling, Damon wiped his hand down his face.

“I never meant to hurt you, Elena. But—”

Elena’s hand connected sharply with his face, slapping him hard enough to make her hand tingle.

Damon barely moved, but the pain radiate right into his chest.

“Elena!” Bonnie shouted, and ran over to Damon to shield him from her.

Her dainty digits traced softly over the red place where Elena had just hit him, trying to soothe him as much as heal him. Much to her delight, Damon cupped her cheek and swiped his thumb over it, letting her know he was grateful.

“I’m ok.” He voiced only to her, his broken eyes boring down into hers.

Before Elena could scream at either of them, Matt burst through the door with Meredith stumbling closely behind. His sky blue eyes raged as he practically snarled at Damon. Meredith desperately tried to catch hold of him as she reached and reached for any part of him. He flung off every attempt.

“Matt! Matt!” Meredith called.

Matt stomped straight over to Damon with his hands clawed, ready to strangle the vampire. Damon gripped Bonnie’s upper arm tight and went to shove her out of the way, but she, for once, escaped his hold as she twirled around and spread herself as wide as she could in front of him. Damon grasped either of her arms tightly, ready to move her at a moments notice. But Matt halted, seeing through the red enough to notice the strawberry head of the girl he cared about.

“Matt, stop!” Bonnie shrieked defensively.

Meredith idled right behind Matt, her stance looking ready to spring into action if needed.

“Move.” Matt growled in a voice so low Bonnie wasn’t sure if she was even speaking to the Matt she knew anymore.

Bonnie trembled but stood her ground, binging on the hope that he wouldn’t hurt her.

“Take your filthy fucking hands off her!” Matt spat at Damon, practically foaming at the mouth.

But before Damon could retort, Matt swung. In the blink of an eye, Meredith lunged for Matt as Damon flung Bonnie aside and then spun back around to, not only evade Matt’s fist, but catch him by the throat.

“Damon!” all the girls seemed to yell out in harmony.

Damon flung Matt against the wall, shaking the infrastructure of the room. He squeezed his hand hard around Mutt’s throat and growled in his face, the entirety of its appearance having gone feral. All the girls gasped and froze in place as the blur of motion cleared from the human eyes. Matt was gasping for breath as he struggled against Damon’s grasp.

Stefan appeared at the opposite end of the room just then but remained silent as he keyed into the girls’ tension.

“Let’s get something straight, _Mutt!_ Bonnie is not yours, nor will she ever be. And if you ever try to hit me again, I _will_ kill you. Your life means _nothing_ to me.” Damon spoke in a haunting tone that sent chills down Bonnie’s spine.

“Damon…” Stefan called cautiously.

Matt choked as he face began to go purple.

“Damon, stop!” Bonnie yelled and Damon dropped Mutt to the floor.

Elena and Bonnie both rushed to Matt’s side as he gasped for air, holding a hand up to his bruised throat.

“You don’t deserve her.” Matt spat through raspy, labored breaths.

Damon’s lips quirked up on one side, “Couldn’t agree more.”

Tired of the drama, Damon turned and brushed passed Meredith.

“Damon!” she called softly, attempting to catch his shoulder to no avail.

Stefan watched his brother exit the room, his expression wrought with worry.

Elena stood from her place by Matt and called after Damon as she walked after him. Meredith succeeded in catching her. Her eyes were angry as they met her friend’s deep blue ones.

“Your boyfriend is right there, maybe you should talk to him first?” she urged, pointing to Stefan. Elena’s eyes suddenly turned guilty, sensing Meredith’s disappointment. She nodded and went to Stefan.

“Can we talk somewhere else?” she asked him sweetly.

Meredith rolled her eyes and went over to Matt, still regaining his composure. She grabbed Bonnie by the arm and pulled her to a stand.

“Go talk to Damon, please.”

Bonnie nodded but lingered as she looked to a hurt Matt, rubbing at his sore throat.

“Don’t worry” Meredith smiled at her before turning irate green orbs on Matt, “I’ve got this idiot.”

With that, Bonnie hurried out of the dining room in search of Damon, calling him with her telepathy.

_Please don’t ignore me again, Damon. Please._

_Walk down the road from the boarding house just a little. You’ll see me._

Slipping on some shoes she had left at the front door, she quickly exited and jogged down the long driveway until she reached the road. She looked to her left and to her right, not only checking for the rare sight of a car but also pondering over which way to choose.

 _Right._ Damon answered, and she looked up to the sky to see his crow form fly overhead and into the thick patch of trees a few feet down the road.

Following his path, she swerved into the trees lining the road and picked up her pace until she saw him leaning against a slender tree. Involuntary tears poured from her eyes as she slowed her pace, the heartache of everything catching up to her. She clutched at her chest and cried audibly, strained breaths causing hiccups to emit from her parted lips. Damon looked over his shoulder at her and immediately pushed off the tree and closed the distance between them. He caught her in his arms just as she broke down sobbing.

“Don’t push me away! Please! I need you!” she erupted through uncontrollable sobs.

Damon drew her into his chest tightly with one hand at the back of her head. His fingers dug into her mass of curls.

“Shh, shh…I’m not leaving, ok?” he said, feeling her fiery ringlets brush beneath his chin as the wetness at her eyes soaked through his shirt.

Bonnie’s arms hugged him as tight as they could manage without snapping. Her fingers curled into the material of his shirt and tugged tight.

“Promise?” she asked, her face buried in his chest.

Damon took her face in her hands then and tilted her head up, “Bonnie, look at me!”

Bonnie quieted her hysterics as she was forced to look into Damon’s dark eyes. His thumbs caressed her skin.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Looking deep into his eyes, she found nothing but honesty, and she knew it was true. But then his strong gaze faltered and fell from hers. She tightened her fingers impossibly more as they twisted into the cotton material.

“I just—I need to talk to her. I have to sort out all…” Damon waved a hand over his head in circles, “this.”

Bonnie tears were silent as they dripped from her cheeks and hit the warm forest floor. She nodded weakly. Damon’s fingers hooked beneath her chin and took up her face.

“Hey,” he began in a soft voice, “I still feel the same way about you. Nothing has changed between us. I want you just as much now as before, ok?”

Bonnie’s eyes melted against his until she felt an all too familiar fire spreading heat through her veins. Damon leaned down and placed a lingering kiss to her lips. They were soft, gentle, as they danced with hers. Tingles almost as gentle coursed along each cell of her body as she kissed him back with even more passion, letting him feel her heart and how much it longed for him. Just before the kiss overwhelmed him, Damon drew back from her and pressed his reddened lips to the back of her hand. He kissed it softly, but powerfully all at once.

“Let’s get back inside. I’ll stay with you for a while, ok?” Damon offered, leading her back down the road with her hand clasped firmly in his.

Bonnie followed along diligently, giving and receiving little hand squeezes along the way, if only for reassurance.


	18. Tears and Tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here goes.....

Bonnie found herself tired from the day’s drama already as her cheek squished into Damon’s chest. With the sunlight warming the room and Damon’s strong arm slung around her body, sleep captured her overworked mind and switched it off for a while, taking her to dreams filled with sunshine, Damon, and his lips.

Damon twirled his fingers in her hair as he watched her muscles twitch softly. He admired her peaceful form as she drifted off. Her long lashes fanned out over the apex of her rosy cheeks. Her button nose curved into a steep slope that ended just above her lips, which pouted into a delicate rosebud eager for his kiss. Soft curls wrapped around his fingers as they dipped into her mass of red ringlets and pulled back with expert gentleness so as not to disturb her.

His thoughts drifted as he stared out the window into the yard of the boarding house. The perfectly kempt grass stretched on for yards into a patch of trees that bristled against one another in the slight afternoon breeze. His ears picked up the sweetest tones of her voice, wrought with anger, frustration, and guilt as she shouted at Stefan. His brother sounded just as angry, yet helpless, as his rough voice ebbed and flowed, rising and falling at each of her admissions and explanations. Damon could only assume, of course, but in his heart he knew. She was telling him things meant for his ears. She was confessing the truth of her feelings, which should have been a secret only exchanged between them.

Damon glanced down at Bonnie, her tiny body curled up against him. One leg entwined between his, one arm possessively locked across his torso. Her front squished against his side in her fitted tank top. She was a beautiful sight, so innocent, but so temptatious. Spurts of fire reminiscent of fireworks shot through his body as her lavender scent assaulted his nostrils, endlessly intoxicating. His fangs ached to bury into her skin and claim her for eternity. His heart surged to keep her there, at his side, forever. Yet, that melodic voice spouting illegible words in his supernatural ears tugged at him. He couldn’t ignore his intrigue with her, what would it be like to have her? To truly hold her?

Fiery strands turned gold and straight as he stared at the hair between his fingers. He felt the small body against him lengthen as alabaster skin molded sinfully around his body. Her face rested in serenity against his shoulder, flawless and regal with her full lips and lightened lashes. What would it be like if she were lying with him right now, and not Bonnie?

Damon flinched as his chest panged violently. Visions of her faded to reveal the reality of the girl settled into his chest. She wasn’t blonde or tall, her skin wasn’t like a porcelain doll’s but like a pale maiden of Irish descent. She wasn’t confident or indefinitely courageous, she wasn’t a princess of darkness, she was his redbird, a princess of fire shining in a light all her own. The thought of her being somewhere else, being with someone else…it would drive him insane.

He needed to talk to Elena.

Partway through her nap, after hearing Elena’s door slam and Stefan’s boots stomping across the hardwood floor, Damon slipped Bonnie’s grip. Draping a soft blanket over her legs, he sorted quickly through a small pile of stuffed animals at the foot of her bed. Tossing Mutt’s bear to the side, he found a rather large stuffed elephant and pushed it into her arms for her to hold. Brushing her curls back from her cheek, he pressed his lips to her warm skin and let them linger. He would be back. He would. And she would be smiling up at him. He could have her all he wanted, however he wanted. The thought comforted him, gave him courage, motivated him to return quickly.

As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he saw Elena topping the stairs, tears staining her elegant complexion. She froze as her eyes met his, and suddenly he wasn’t sure what to say to her. She knew so much about he and Bonnie’s relationship…too much. Was she gearing up to yell at him, slap him, punch him? He would let her. Maybe he deserved it.

Instead, Elena hurriedly dried her tears and attempted to compose herself.

“Can we talk?” he managed to ask.

Elena’s lapis orbs studied his and she nodded slowly.

“Let’s go to my room.” Damon suggested and Elena followed down the hall.

Damon sat at the foot of his own bed and Elena mimicked him, nervously sitting at the head of the bed to keep a fair distance between them. Damon sighed, something in him wanting to close that gap creating more and more tension between them.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, her voice hoarse and breathy from her fight with Stefan.

Damon scooted just a bit closer to her, “I’m sorry—for hurting you…”

Elena held up a hand, waving it slightly as she shook her head, “Damon, we don’t need to—”

“We do.” Damon interjected.

Elena took in a deep breath as she looked at him through unsure crystals of oceanic blue. Damon begged her to hear him out wordlessly. She sniffled and bowed her head defeatedly, helpless to Damon’s unspoken plea. She nodded, giving him the go ahead.

“You need to know how I feel, not just about Bonnie…”

Elena perked up curiously. She inched closer this time.

Damon wiped a hand across his face begrudgingly as he began, “I wasn’t trying to hurt you by being with Bonnie. We just…” he struggled for words, “I don’t know. We connected and things became very—intense.”

Elena cleared her throat, shifting awkwardly.

Damon huffed and continued on, “I couldn’t just ignore it. I tried so hard, Elena, but I—” he faltered and raked a hand through his raven hair, “it wouldn’t let up…”

Elena’s golden brows scrunched over her eyes, “What wouldn’t?”

Damon released his long-held breath and let his hand drop from his head, “how much I wanted her.”

The sharp breath Elena sucked in didn’t go unnoticed by Damon as a needle stabbed right into his heart.

“Are you in love with her?” Elena questioned suddenly, catching Damon off-guard.

Damon’s dark depths intruded into her lapis jewels and she felt overexposed, but she couldn’t look away. Seeming to find what he needed, he lowered his gaze and stroked his jawline once in ponderance. Elena’s eyes traveled with his fingers, over his chiseled jaw, his strong chin, and his full lips.

“I—don’t know…” Damon finished uncertainly.

“Are you in love with…me?” Elena asked, keeping her eyes trained on her hands picking at the hem of her shirt.

She felt the bed shift as Damon closed the space between them. His fingers glazed over her cheeks as he took her face between his hands. Her heart fluttered at the contact and she leaned into one of his hands, reveling in the feeling.

“I’ll always love you, princess.” Damon breathed, getting lost in the deep blue seas sucking him in like undertow.

A single tear slipped down Elena’s cheek, “I’m confused, Damon. I’m _so_ confused. My heart is with Stefan, but some part of me keeps pushing me toward you.”

Damon chuckled shortly, “I know how you feel—believe me.”

He brushed the tear from her porcelain skin. One of her hands reached up to cup his cheek and caress the skin beneath her thumb.

“I wasn’t trying to keep you as a backup. I just—I was hoping to have time to figure out my feelings for you.”

“This isn’t me trying to rush you.”

Elena snorted softly just once, “Well I’m already out of time. I lost you to one of my best friend’s. Now I’ll never know…”

Her thumb moved down, grazing across his lower lip. As if something pulled her, she leaned in, eyes trained on his mouth and unable to fight it. Damon’s lips parted automatically, looking at hers with heavy-lidded obsidian orbs. His breath caught as hers reached his tongue, permeating it with her pure flavor. Her vanilla and honeysuckle scent flooded his nostrils and effectively hushed the parts of his brain threatening to overthink.

Her lips collided with his and the kiss went from soft to feverish in a millisecond. His hands tangled in her long strands of red—no gold! Elena moaned into his mouth as she let his tongue dance with hers. Her flavor was sweet, but not as pungent as…

Her fingers trailed through his hair as Damon kissed her harder. Her rosebud lips—no! Damon’s brows knotted; her lips were larger, more artfully carved with a near-perfect cupid’s bow. And they were so soft, too soft. His head was getting hazy as he melted further and further into her, but something nagged him. He shook it off as Elena pushed her chest against his, it was fuller than he was used to and his mind drifted to flashes of her. Her little features and curves, how she wrapped her petite body around his, her high-pitched screams sending shivers down his body as he got lost in the ecstasy of her. Her big, brown eyes that melted like chocolate every time he looked at her…

Elena’s arms wrapped around his neck and he kissed her hard, winding his own arms around her body to keep her close. A fire in him burned bright, igniting every single vein with every kiss, but his heart was still yearning, still pining for another. His lips beckoned for a smaller mouth, his hands searched for a tinier frame, both came up blank.

A creak of the door snapped his mind into high-alert and then a tiny voice sent him reeling.

“Da—” the voice froze and Damon whipped his head around just quick enough to see Bonnie’s heart shatter.

Elena pushed herself back against the bed’s headboard as far as she could go, trying to create as much distance as possible between herself and the man she was just kissing. She put a hand up to her lips, her eyes wide as saucers as they stared at her small, red-headed friend just in time to see her break from the inside out.

Sobs burst from Bonnie lips as she turned on her heel and ran back the way she came. Elena watched Damon scramble, for the first time in her life, as he sprung from the bed and raced after her.

“Bonnie!” he called, the pain in his tone reverberating in Elena’s ears as she watched him storm from his own bedroom and completely leave her behind.

“No! No! Bonnie, please!” Damon yelled after her as he ran down the hallway, some part of him unable to reach his vampiric speed.

Tears flooded his eyes, blurring his vision as he tried desperately to reach her. His chest throbbed viciously, radiating pain so powerful through his body that he nearly collapsed. But he couldn’t; not until he reached her. Bonnie collapsed against the wall by her door, nearly hyperventilating as sobs wracked through her body and shook her savagely. He ran up right behind her and immediately captured her head in his hands, turning it to his. She pushed at him weakly, swinging her arms in lazy motions, her cries taking every ounce of energy from her body.

Damon ignored the tears streaming down his own face as he frantically tried to get her to look at him, to just give him one second of her attention.

“Please look at me! Please, just—”

An agonizing wail left her mouth as she collapsed to her knees. Damon could feel his something in him ripping apart and he followed, falling to his knees in front of her.

“No!” Bonnie shouted through her hiccupped bawling, giving him one push with all the strength she had left.

Meredith rushed up the stairs with Stefan in tow.

“What the hell happened?!” Meredith yelled over the commotion.

Her green orbs landed on Damon, crying furiously as he tried to coax Bonnie to listen. Then her eyes shifted to her best friend, scuttling backwards from Damon as she cried her heart out. Her face was puffy and bright red as she watched her break down. She had seen this once before, but not like this, not this audibly, never this painful.

“What did you do?!” Meredith screamed at Damon as she rushed over to Bonnie and helped her up off the floor. The small girl instantly turned into Meredith and wept. Her shirt was soaked through in seconds as she felt Bonnie’s uneven breaths coming fast and hard against her arm.

Damon slammed his fists into the floor, causing everyone to flinch as the foundation shook. He dug his hands into his hair then, looking as if he might rip it from his scalp. A creak in the floor boards turned Meredith’s head up towards the end of the long hallway. Elena walked slowly from Damon’s room and everything clicked into place.

Light fell from Meredith’s eyes as they narrowed maliciously. A loud snap sounded behind her and she knew without seeing that Stefan’s hand had crushed the wooden railing.

“Damon…” she called, worried as she rushed down to the broken Salvatore.

Meredith shielded Bonnie from the coming interaction but before she could Damon’s vampiric nature had masked his face in a fit of unfiltered rage. Meredith held a hand up for Elena to stop.

“Elena, don’t!” Meredith commanded, and the thin blonde froze.

Meredith weighed her options, Matt having gone for a drive to cool off, and was only left with Stefan.

“Stefan, could you take Bonnie somewhere else? _Please?_ ” she begged, urging him to cooperate.

Swallowing his pride, Stefan rushed over and scooped Bonnie up in his arms. Damon’s monstrous mask faded then and he lunged from the ground, reaching for the girl he had dispirited. Meredith stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders as Stefan raced down the stairs and into her and Elena’s room.

“Meredith, please! I need to talk to her! I can’t—” Damon fell to his knees.

Meredith’s cold stare softened just the slightest as she watched the skillfully deceptive vampire lose himself. There was no hint of cool confidence, mischievous smirk, or master manipulation. He was simply shattered and he couldn’t fit any of his pieces back together.

“I can’t lose her...” His voice wavered beneath the weight of his turmoil.

Meredith pulled his face down to hers, “Hey! Take a breath, ok?”

Seeing tears pour from Damon’s eyes was one of the worst sights she had ever seen. At one point, she would’ve given anything for him to cry, to show some emotion other than cockiness. But now she wished that side of him could return. This wasn’t a natural look on him, and she hated the mothering part of her that wanted to coddle him and tell him everything would be ok, especially when he just broke Bonnie’s poor heart. But seeing him cry was almost as bad as seeing her cry! The strings of her heart pulled just the same.

“Why don’t you get out of the house for a bit?”

Damon shook his head and surged forward. She caught him once more, barricading him from making things worse.

“I need to see her!” he insisted.

“Damon! She isn’t going to talk to you. Not right now! So if you want to talk to her, you’re going to have to give her space first.”

His watery midnight crystals searched hers helplessly, silently pleading for her to help him fix this.

“Just go for a while. Please…” Meredith urged and Damon reluctantly sped from her, passed Elena, and out his bedroom window.

Meredith’s angry cat-eyes returned as she fixed her gaze on a guilty seeming Elena, still standing in place in the hallway. The blonde nodded, already knowing what Meredith would say next. They walked together into the nearest room, which just so happened to be Bonnie’s bathroom.

“Elena…” Meredith sighed exasperatedly, digging her nails into the crown of her head.

Tears brimmed Elena’s oceanic eyes, “You know how I feel, Meredith. It’s never been a secret.”

Meredith’s eyes shot open and stared incredulously at her blonde friend, “That doesn’t give you rights to Damon, Elena! I understand that you’re conflicted, and I know you have feelings for Damon but that doesn’t excuse the fact that you just ruined something really good for one of your best friends.”

Elena’s lower lip quivered and she broke down into her very own set of sobs.

“I didn’t mean to kiss him! I was trying to let go! Oh god! Bonnie’s never going to speak to me again!” she cried into her hands.

Meredith began to reach her hand up to comfort her best friend, but the mess Elena had just made weighed on her mind. She let her hand fall back to her side.

“I don’t think that’s true. At least, not if you try to make things right…” Meredith suggested, bending down slightly to try to look Elena in her eyes.

Elena dried her tears, delicately patting beneath her eyes as she sniveled.

“I don’t know how.”

“I would start by figuring out which brother you really want. You can’t have it both ways.”

Elena scrunched her face painfully, “I know!”

Her voice fell softer, “…I know.”

Meredith searched Elena’s face and handed her a tissue from Bonnie’s sink, “Do you actually love Damon more than Stefan? Or do you just like the idea of Damon?”

Elena wiped at her slim nose and sniffed, “Stefan’s never going to want me after this. He’s been so patient, so sweet and kind. And I betrayed him.”

Meredith listened intently before speaking firmly, “Yes, you did. I’m not going to sugar coat it for you.”

A second wave of tears fell from Elena’s eyes. Meredith finally let go of her grudge enough to place a hopeful hand on Elena’s shoulder. The sorrowful girl’s eyes snapped up to meet hers.

“But Stefan will never not want you, Elena. He loves you. And Damon—”

“He loves Bonnie,” Elena nodded in understanding, “I know. I realized after the way he broke down after losing her.”

She shook her head hard, trying to get rid of unwanted images, “It was a heated moment. It wasn’t meant to go that way. I never wanted to hurt anyone. Oh god!”

Meredith shook her lightly, “Hey, hey! No use fretting about it now. It’s done. Focus on fixing things, ok? It’s all you’ve got.”

Elena took in a wavering, but steadying breath and straightened her shoulders, “I need to talk to Stefan first, mend things if I can. I can’t live without him, Meredith.”

Meredith offered a small smile, “Then go get him.”

Elena nodded, fiddling with the damp tissue in her hands, “And Bonnie…”

Meredith made a whine of protest, “I wouldn’t talk to her just yet. Give her some time. And for the love of God, do _not_ talk to Damon! Just don’t… _ever!_ ”

Elena gave a small chuckle, earning that genuine smile from Meredith that she loved so much.

“I don’t plan on it.”

Meredith pulled Elena into her and hugged her tight. Elena responded just as enthusiastically, glad to have her friend by her side.


	19. Mending

It had been four days since the incident and Meredith had watched Damon attempt to talk to Bonnie at least twice a day. The night of, Damon had broken down and tried to get in to see her only to be held back by his brother, with the help of Matt. Oh, Matt. She had had to give him _that_ talk. It hadn’t gone well, but he had been too weak and, truthfully, a little too frightened to confront Damon again. It had taken him a bit to accept that Bonnie and Damon were a thing, but eventually, he had seemed to accept it only due to the fact that he might have a chance now that Damon had royally fucked up. Of course, she hadn’t been able to shoot Matt down because honestly…he wasn’t wrong. He might have a shot.

The days had, nonetheless, been agonizing in themselves as she watched Damon try and try to get Bonnie to talk to him only to have her pretend he wasn’t there, or slam a door in his face. He had begun yelling at her through the door only last night. He had beat on the wooden barrier as Bonnie screamed at him to “go away,” dragging the entire house into their drama. It was pathetically sad watching Damon’s attempts, each time she saw him become more broken. She wondered how much he could take. He had barely left the house and seemed more sluggish each time she saw him. Bonnie, on the other hand, had barely left her room. Meredith had often been summoned to bring her meals, snacks, and drinks. It was silly to her, but she understood at the same time. How awful would it be to never be able to escape the ex who hurt you?

Though, Meredith was glad when Bonnie summoned her for food. The petite girl had barely been eating, so she was always eager to provide whatever food Bonnie asked for just to make sure the girl got nutrients. Although they talked, it was short and monotone. Bonnie wasn’t laughing or bubbly or spouting the ridiculous but amusing thoughts that ran through her mind without filter. She was just there, with some sort of puffy feature on her face where she had been crying, and a solemn appearance tampering her usual fiery glow. She and Matt were about the only two people in the house Bonnie spoke a word to. Though Elena had attempted to apologize on two separate occasions, Bonnie just hadn’t been in the mood to handle it and had shut the lapis-eyed girl out.

On the other hand, though, Elena was working on mending things with Stefan, and all had been going well. There were no more flirtations, no more slip-ups, and no more distractions. Mostly this was because Damon had not been his normal cocky, arrogant, and flirty self. He had barely spoken to a single one of them aside from Bonnie. Otherwise he was writing, locked up in his room, or impersonating a statue in the corner of a room somewhere in the vast house they shared.

Meredith sighed as she looked across the room at Damon, sunk down in his chair and staring out into the void of nothing. His skin was paler than usual, his eyes sunken in a little, and the natural charm in his eyes dulled out. He looked sick, and Meredith had never wanted him to throw a quick-witted insult at her more than in this moment. She wracked her brain, willing any sort of plan or solution to come to her mind.

Damon shot up from his chair suddenly and rushed off to the study. He usually went in there to write. Meredith had kept it a secret when she tip-toed in one night to take a peak at his writings. They were the shattered laments of his soul and excruciating to read. He hadn’t jotted down his feelings in some overdramatic, mushy detail. He had written simple sentences in the most elegant handwriting, rehearsing what he might say to Bonnie given the chance. Lines would be striked-through and certain words scratched out only to be corrected just above the scribble. Deep imprints of the pen were visible where he had dug it into the page, and some of the ink was even smudged where past tears had landed. The symbol that had caught her eye, she recalled, had not been a word or a number or even a picture, it was a carefully crafted twist. Having had taken a closer look, Meredith clued into its familiarity. It wasn’t just a spiral at the bottom of the page, nor was it a mistake or a mindless drawing—it was Bonnie’s hair. A single ringlet made up of a hundred strawberry strands. He had recreated the curl so precisely that it looked as if it could be touched. Meredith wondered what truths could be spilling from his thoughts onto paper tonight.

A loud crash startled her and she flung her laptop shut and shoved it off her lap before speeding toward the study Damon had just entered. Another crash sounded as she got closer. Meredith’s concern grew as a conglomerate of noises coiled and reverberated from the room, loudly beating against her eardrums. She quickened her pace and flung the door open as soon as her fingers grazed the cold, metal knob.

Damon growled as he tore down the bookshelves, tossing journals and old scripts in every direction around him, chucking heavy book ends into the walls, tearing thick book bindings apart like the were no more than a flimsy piece of cardboard. Meredith looked around the room and saw the antique floor lamp flickering against the hardwood, the stained-glass shade completely shattered. Ink was splattered against the wall just next to her head where he had thrown the glass container, now broken in shards beneath the dripping black liquid. He was on a rampage as he moved to another bookshelf. A loud crack blasted through her entire body as a wooden shelf gave way beneath his supernatural strength. She flinched.

“Damon!” she screamed, cautiously moving further into the room.

Damon ignored her, hurling heavy decorative globes, and various trinkets at dangerously high speeds. Some of the objects stuck into the walls like a dart while others left massive dents not easily repaired. Meredith kept her guard up as she approached him slowly, ready to duck, dodge, or shield at any moment.

“Damon, stop!” she shouted, trying again to reach the distraught vampire.

Damon continued, moving to the desk where he began to tear his thoughts apart.

Meredith winced as he shredded the paper into miniscule pieces. The tiny veins beneath his eyes pulsed as his eyes descended into darkness. She took a step forward to approach him automatically but then halted.

_He’s a vampire, Meredith. The most vicious animal…a blood-draining monster in human disguise._

It definitely wasn’t smart to approach him. But he wasn’t just a vampire, he was a person, her friend. And he was hurt. She could call Stefan home, but no—he was on a date with Elena. She could call Matt for backup, but he was out with a study group, and besides his presence would probably only make things worse. It was just her.

Taking in a brave breath, Meredith steadied her nerves and did what she did best: flung herself into the midst of danger for the people she cared most about. Pushing away thoughts of his primal nature, Meredith handled him like she would any of her friends. She dove for Damon’s hands and was shocked when, after a short struggle, the older Salvatore let her stop him from destroying one of his journals.

“Damon….” Meredith breathed through hard inhalations, watching him warily, as if he were a venomous snake that might attack at a moment’s notice.

Damon’s chest heaved, nostrils flared as he stared at the green-eyed girl through red-washed crystals of his own.

“Come on—let’s—let’s talk, ok?” Meredith suggested slowly, trying to gauge him at every move as she took the torn journal from his hand and set it back down on the desk.

He was frozen, his eyes still bloodshot as he stared through her, still stuck in his head. She studied him closer, his crimson eyes were brimmed with tears, and she couldn’t help but notice how they looked more sunk in than usual. His skin was paler too…and he was colder than she remembered.

A pang of something hit her heart as she realized, he hadn’t been drinking.

Moving her hand from his wrist, she took his large hand in hers and gave it a soft squeeze, “Please talk to me?”

Damon swallowed hard as he bowed his head, “There’s nothing to say…”

His voice was gravelly, and strained, it held none of its usual sultriness. She pulled him towards one of the couches and he let her, following reluctantly. Never releasing his hand from hers, she dusted off the paper and shards of wood from one of the cushions before leading him to sit down. The slender brunette dusted off the coffee table in front of it and sat on its edge. She leaned forward, propping her elbows onto her knees to get a good look at him. He didn’t bother trying to meet her gaze, but she saw how the red that stained the whites of his eyes dissipated and the small creeping veins recoiled.

“What happened this time?” Meredith asked gently, trying her hardest not to upset him. The room couldn’t take another Damon outburst.

Damon threw his hands up violently, “What the fuck do you think?!”

Meredith jumped at the barking tone of his voice.

“She won’t talk to me. She won’t even look at me.” Damon met Meredith’s eyes, allowing her to see the torture his heart was enduring.

Before she could stop to overanalyze why she wanted to comfort him, Meredith had reached forward and taken his hand in hers again. She hid her shock when Damon tightened his hand around hers. He spread his free hand around his face, rubbing his eyes.

“I don’t know what to do.” His voice hung just above a whisper.

Meredith sighed, wracking her brain for some sort of plan, or a next step, anything. She sat there, hand in hand with the man she despised only a month prior, wanting nothing more than to mend his heart for him. Sure, he deserved to be broken for what he had done, but it had quickly become clear to her by the way he was so undone, by the way he hadn’t just walked away, that it was a mistake. One he would never make again, she was sure of.

“Well, if I know anything about Bonnie, it’s that she loves gifts. So, maybe you could try getting her a gift? Maybe that would coax her into listening…” Meredith offered with a small shrug.

A small flicker of hope lit up Damon’s dark eyes but then his brows furrowed.

“Why are you helping me?”

Meredith opened her mouth to respond, but faltered. Honestly, she wasn’t sure herself.

“I—I don’t know. Maybe I want to see my best friend happy again.”

Damon looked down to the floor, seeming satisfied with her answer. He stood from the couch and Meredith followed, figuring this was her cue to leave. She gave him a curt smile before heading for the door. Damon watched her leave.

On the way to the door, Meredith fought with herself before practically forcing the next words from her mouth.

With her hand on the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder at him, “Maybe I don’t want to see you hurt either.”

She huffed and urged herself to turn back. Shaking off any second guesses, she marched over to Damon and threw her arms around his waist in a tight hug. She felt him stiffen and she was certain he was about to push her off. Instead, he relaxed and loosely circled his arms around her thin frame.

A tear ran down Meredith’s face as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

“I know you probably think I hate you, but—you’re one of my best friends, and I—I care about you.” She admitted.

Damon hugged her tighter for a moment before releasing her. Meredith stepped back and gave him a small smile. A very faint half-smile tugged at his lips and she snickered as she wiped the tear trail from her cheek.

She sniffed, “Now,” she poked him, “go get some rest. You have shopping to do tomorrow.”

Damon snorted and nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Meredith’s smile grew and she let out a small laugh before walking out the door. Taking a few steps from the study, she spun on her heel and poked her head back through the door.

“I’ll call someone tomorrow to…” she stuck an arm in and waved it around, “clean.”

Damon scratched the back of his head as he took in the damage he had done, “Yeah…”

“Night!” Meredith called and shut the door behind her for good.

Damon let out a long breath as he sat on the floor by the grand fireplace and rested his forearms across his knees. He brain rattled in his skull as he sorted through an agonizingly long list of items good enough to get his favorite red-head. It was no use going to sleep, he would only see her there, plaguing his dreams.

As soon as the light of a new day beamed through Damon’s windows he was up, fully dressed in casual black apparel, and hopping into his equally as dark Ferrari. The determined Salvatore drove to the mall and began searching the stores. Clothes? No, too simple. Something scented? No, too impersonal. Jewelry? Nope, trying too hard. Damon was getting more annoyed by the minute as he kept coming up blank and having to ward off random women’s advances. He was tired of being there and decided to leave when he passed a cute little gift shop with all kinds of weird gadgets and useless trinkets. He stopped to examine the store, giving it one final try. As soon as he stepped into the small shop he froze. There it was…the perfect gift.

Meredith groaned as she held up her vibrating phone.

Can you bring me a pop tart?

Meredith typed back firmly:

Damon’s not here and Elena isn’t in the kitchen. Come down and get it yourself.

Bonnie snuck down the stairs, searching every portion of the house for _him_. When all seemed clear she charged forward into the kitchen and grabbed a pop tart. Quickly unwrapping it, she popped it into the toaster and hurried pushed the handle down. She grabbed a nearby paper plate from the counter and held it as she bounced impatiently.

Meredith rolled her eyes, “Bonnie, you need to talk to him.”

Staring intently at the red-head’s back, she watched her skinny hand fly up to her face and wipe something away. Meredith sighed to herself as she picked at her waffle. The toaster sprung and she noticed how the small girl trembled as she slowly took the pop tart from the toaster to her plate.

“I’ll bring you your dinner tonight, ok?” Meredith told her in sweet tones.

Bonnie’s ringlets jiggled as she nodded before scurrying back up the stairs to her room.

The sound of the garage rumbled faintly in Meredith’s ears and then Damon’s boots clomped down the hallway towards her. She looked back expectantly at the entry archway, waiting for him to appear. Seconds later, he waltzed into the kitchen carrying a huge hot pink bag with a pretty white-stringed handle. He plopped the paper bag onto the island in front of her and urged her to peak inside.

“What do you think?” he asked, looking suddenly concerned over his decision.

Meredith delicately lifted the decorative paper covering the top of the bag and looked inside. A big smile spread across her lips. She sat back in her chair and looked to Damon.

“I think it’s perfect.”

Damon huffed and rested his elbows on the countertop for support. Meredith could tell he was tired.

“When should I give it to her?”

Meredith shrugged, wishing she could be of more help. She reached across the countertop and patted his hand.

“Whenever you think is best.”


	20. Conversation

Damon paced back and forth in front of Bonnie’s room with her gift in his hands. He looked down at it and it seemed to stare right back at him, mockingly. He grimaced and then straightened himself up. He felt robotic as he rigidly raised his arm and hesitated before knocking on the door.

He threw the gift behind his back and braced against the door frame with his other hand. He heard her feet shuffle across the floor and he gritted his teeth. The door cracked open and his heart surged as he saw a sliver of her face. A single red ringlet framed her face as one starry brown eye peered through the crack. His eyes dropped, catching the way her rosebud pout glistened with whatever lip balm she had on. He watched her one visible eye flash from shock, to turmoil, to anger and she slammed the door.

Damon slapped his previously braced hand onto the door and stopped it from shutting. He briefly thought about just shoving it open. It would be easy. She couldn’t fight against his strength. But he wouldn’t barge into her room uninvited. He couldn’t bring himself to invade her privacy when she looked at him like the monster he was beneath all these human layers. He respected her too much.

“Bonnie, wait!”

“Go away!” she shouted, just like a few nights ago, tears laced in her voice.

His chest ached, the knife wound she had eternally sliced beginning to bleed for the nth time.

“Please just let me talk to you.” Damon begged.

Tiny whimpers emanated from the other side of the door.

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

Damon swallowed the lump forming in his throat, “I just wanted to give you something. Then I’ll leave if you want. Please…”

Bonnie stopped pushing back against him and let the door creak open further. A wave of relief flooded Damon as he let out a long held breath and stood upright. Bonnie stood in front of the doorway awkwardly, arms crossed over her chest and head bowed, her eyes looking anywhere but at him. Her fingers shot up to her face, reaching under her curtain of curls to wipe her eyes.

“What?” she breathed shakily.

Damon pulled the gift from behind his back and presented it to her, holding it front of him. He watched Bonnie’s watery eyes look up bashfully to glance at his face before landing on the big, ivory bear in his hands. Her eyes softened only slightly as she studied the stuffed animal. His nose was big and brown against his creamy fluff and small, close-together eyes were set in the middle of his oversized head. Fuzz stood crazily about his little rounded ears and along his big body all the way down to his fat feet. In his paws, tied together by a ribbon, was a bouquet of four plush roses, soft and red.

Damon began to explain while Bonnie processed the gift, “I originally just got the bear but then I saw the roses and—they reminded me of you.”

Bonnie brows pulled in confusion and Damon was so enraptured with her that the boundaries he should’ve recalled had faded from memory. Bonnie took the bear into her hands, the size of it taking up half of her body as she examined it, tears dripping down her flushed face. He took the opportunity to list each reason behind the inclusion of the flowers.

Damon reached a hand out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, trailing his finger tips intentionally slow along the ruby tendrils. Bonnie’s heart hammered against her ribcage.

“Your hair becomes cherry red in the dark, when all the lights are off and only the moonlight hits.”

His fingers grazed the apple of her cheek and Bonnie couldn’t breathe.

“Your cheeks go red when you blush…and when you cry.”

The pad of his thumb ran across her lower lip and Bonnie’s head swam as she fought to stay steady on her feet.

“Your lips…” his eyes lingered there, “they’re soft like the petals and just as delicate.”

Damon tipped her chin up, forcing her gaze to meet his, “And this is the only flower that can even begin to compare with how beautiful you are…”

Bonnie’s lip quivered and she bit down onto it, holding in her sobs.

“I’m s—"

She turned her head, ripping it from Damon’s gentle hold. He sighed and let his hand drop back to his side.

“Th-Thank you for the gift. Goodnight.” She rushed the words from her mouth and grabbed onto the door.

“Bonnie!” Damon called right as the door slammed in his face.

He braced against the door frame, his fingers crushing into the wood. He pushed himself backwards with a loud, frustrated growl and tore an old picture of past kin from the wall. He threw it at the opposite wall, the wooden frame split as the glass smacked into the hard surface and shattered. Pieces flew in various directions, never to be found. Damon sped to his room and slammed the door.

Meredith sighed from the staircase where she remained crouched so low that her stomach grazed the wooden steps.

“ _What_ are you doing?”

Meredith jumped and looked behind her to see Stefan staring at her from the bottom of the stairs like she had just grown a second head. Meredith took in her position and flashed Stefan an abashed smile. She repositioned so that she was sitting on one of the steps.

“I was—well, I guess I was spying. I wanted to see how Damon’s apology to Bonnie went.” She confessed, still aware Damon was a sensitive topic for the younger Salvatore.

Stefan gave a small “ah” and nodded his head. He walked up and sat down beside Meredith.

“I didn’t know Damon had it in him to apologize.” Stefan noted.

Meredith shrugged. After seeing what she saw she wasn’t so sure either. But the start had exceeded her expectations.

Noticing her defeated expression, Stefan chuckled, “Let me guess, he didn’t actually say the words ‘I’m sorry,’ right?”

Meredith gave him a small nudge with her shoulder against his, “It’s like you know him or something…”

Stefan clicked his tongue, “Let’s go with ‘or something’.”

Meredith gave a breathy laugh through her nose, “Well—he almost got there. He probably just should’ve started with it instead of waiting.”

Stefan just snickered and shook his head at the images Meredith was planting there.

“How are you holding up?” Meredith asked sincerely.

Stefan gave her a half-forced smile, “I’m ok.”

“We’re working on things. There’s a lot we’ve had to talk about.” He looked off into some distance she couldn’t see.

Meredith place a hand on his knee, “You’ll get there. She does love you, ya know…”

Stefan smiled more genuinely and nodded, glancing over at Meredith once more, “I know. Thanks.”

He put an arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She patted his chest with a flat hand.

“You’re welcome.”

Stefan squeezed her tighter into his side, “So when do we get to fix your drama with Alaric, huh?” he teased.

Meredith sniggered, “It’s hard to have relationship drama of my own when spending all my time fixing broken people!”

Stefan looked down at the top of her brunette head, “You don’t have to fix us, you know…”

A sneer flashed across Meredith’s mouth as she stood from the step with a quick stretch before catching the railing and turning toward the seated vampire.

“Oh, Stefan…” she stuck a hand in his hair and shook it, messing up his clean-cut hairdo, “yes I do.”

With that, she ran up the rest of the steps and disappeared into her room. Stefan chuckled to himself as he fixed his hair back in place. What would they do without Meredith?

Later in the night, Damon tossed and turned in his bed, his usual routine. Giving up on sleep, he went over to his dresser across the room and tore a blank piece of paper from a barely used notebook he had lying around. Grabbing the nearest pen, he began to jot down the one thing he never got to say to her.

Folding up the paper, he slid it into his back pocket and ran superhumanly fast around to Bonnie’s side of the house. He jumped up with all the precision of a cat, landing stealthily onto the window she always kept open. He studied her dreaming form for a moment before quietly stepping into the room, his bare feet touching the cold, hardwood panels.

Mid-way to her, she shifted, and he halted all motions. She rolled over, facing him, and his eyes softened as he saw the teddy bear he had given her being cuddle tightly in her arms. Part of her nose was buried in its fur, and she repeatedly nuzzled into it.

“Damon…” she mumbled only loud enough for someone with his enhanced hearing to catch.

Seeing her eyes closed, he knew she was dreaming and he padded closer to her. He smirked for the first time in days as he realized she could smell his scent on the bear. He was dying to know what story her dreams played out. Was she running into his arms there, or was she shoving him away?

Pulling the note from his pocket, he laid it down at the bottom corner of her bed, just out of reach of her toes. He knelt down on the edge of the bed beside her and studied her face, watching how it twitched and twisted as her eyes rolled behind her eyelids. Carefully, he wound one of her curls around his finger and then let it twirl around his skin as it unwound from his digit. How he wished for his fingers to be buried in those tresses, sending shivers across her body, hearing the pleasured moans that escaped her throat as she succumbed to him…

Bonnie whined and shifted again, laying one hand out, palm up on the bed. Damon took his hand from her proximity and looked her over once more. His heart yearned for her. Losing her was the biggest mistake of his life. With a sigh, Damon leaned his head down to her open palm and pressed a kiss to the center of it. His eyes never left her face as he did so, but he made the mistake of breathing in and his eyes fluttered, threatening to close as he caught a whiff of her sweet blood.

His eyes darkened and his predatory senses heightened as his ears trained in on the sound of her slow, steady heartbeat. Blood pushed through her veins at every thump, flowing a constant stream of fresh liquid just beneath his mouth. All he had to do was bite. He could feel his eyes shift into their vampiric form as his fangs began to grow sharp and savage. Her blood sang to him, the heat of it rising through her supple flesh. His mouth watered fiercely and before he could stop himself, his tongue had darted out to swipe over the beating part of her wrist. The translucent skin displayed her veins like the most irresistible dessert in the world.

She shifted again, retracting her wrist from his sight. It was enough to knock some sense back into him and he quickly darted away from her and held his face in his hands. Focusing on the most human part of him, he coaxed his vampiric tendencies away and then made a break for the window. He had to get out of the room before he let himself indulge in her flavor as he had done so many times before.

Before jumping back into his own bedroom window, he contemplated. Maybe he should hunt down an unexpecting woman. Any woman out at this time of night would be easy prey. But his appetite dissipated at the thought. Maybe he could try out Stefan’s lifestyle and feast on an animal or two, just to hold him over…

His stomach lurched at the mere mental image. With the feeling of utter repulsion, Damon let go of the thought altogether and returned to his bed where he lay for another long hour staring at the ceiling before exhaustion took him out.

Bonnie awoke mid-morning and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The skin around them hurt to touch. She had been rubbing them so much lately that her skin was permanently red around the edges. The typical heartache returned to her awoken form as soon as she stretched. Nothing new.

Bonnie hugged the teddy bear from Damon closer and sniffed in its scent deeply. His scent was still there, but only just. It was mainly her own lavender one now. She frowned and shook away the images of Damon that replayed in her dreams all night. His eyes had been so broken, so sorrowful. She hated looking at him. His words…she had wanted him so badly in that moment. She knew if she hadn’t shut him out she would’ve dragged him into her room and kissed the living daylights out of him. But she knew the reward wouldn’t have been worth it. She would’ve berate herself endlessly for forgiving him so easily, and for letting him back in. Then he would’ve had the chance to break her heart again, and she feared that if it happened a second time…she may not make it through.

Still, she longed to have him back in her bed. Maybe he would come back and she they could mend thin—no! She shook her head once more. No. He wasn’t good for her. She had to keep reminding herself of that. He had presented her with so many red flags already…just as Meredith had once warned her about. She looked down to the red roses at her feet.

A sliver of manilla caught her eye and she squinted, trying to make sense of the oddity. Sitting up, she leaned down and grabbed the piece of paper. Some part of her became nervous for reasons she couldn’t fathom. It was just paper. But a part of her knew before she opened it.

The page shook in her trembling fingers as she unfolded it gently. Her palms began to perspire as her heartrate increased dramatically. Her brown orbs widened as they looked over the note.

Bonnie,

I didn’t get a chance to say this to you last night, and I need to say it. I’m sorry. For everything that I’ve done. It was a mistake, what happened with Elena. While I keep hoping that you will forgive me for it, I understand that you can’t. I broke your trust, your loyalty, and your heart…and I will never forgive myself for that. So why would I ever expect you to? I have to live with the consequences of my actions, and if that includes living without you, then it’s what I deserve. I hope that your heart can mend if I’m unable to pick up the pieces. I’m so sorry.

Sleep well, Redbird

Bonnie was sobbing by the time she finished the note. Crumpling it in her hands, she threw it to the corner of her room. This was such a knotted mess, the start as undiscoverable as the end now. She hated how hard he made her decision to stay away from him. His words played on the strings of her cracked heart, constantly threatening to tie it back together and make her drop to his feet in surrender. She couldn’t. She _wouldn’t_. Everything about him was just too complicated, too chaotic. It was too much stress for her body to endure. She was better off this way, separated from him.

At least, that’s what she constantly chanted to herself each time he appeared in front of her…

She grabbed her phone to text Meredith, but her hands were too shaky to type out the words. Her heart wouldn’t stop its pounding either. Thoughts of him, of the way he kissed her, the way he felt inside of her, the way he held her while she slept—it all flooded her head at once. The memories mixed with the bad, the mean things he said and did, seeing him in an intimate embrace with Elena…

But then her feelings rushed in, pouring more confliction into the overflowing pot that was her mind. She wanted him so badly. She missed his kiss, his taste, his touch. She needed him, she wanted to hear his voice, see his cocky smirks. Then the deepest desires bubbled to the surface. She wanted to feel his fangs, taste his blood, she wanted to be the one giving him blood, she wanted to be the one to draw out those guttural moans from his perfect lips…

 _Damon,_ she projected before she even realized what she was doing.

She gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth, praying that Damon was shutting her out. How had that happened?! She hadn’t even meant—

 _Bonnie?_ Came his surprised telepathic message.

Bonnie berated herself for an entirely different reason now. She knew he was going to come up now, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind. She panicked and fumbled for her doorknob’s lock as she heard his footsteps walking down the hall. Just as she reached it to twist it in place, the knob turned.

“Bonnie?” came his voice from the other side of the door as he pushed it open slightly.

Bonnie pushed it back, “It was an accident. I-I’m sorry…”

She heard his sigh and then his fingers appeared around the edge of the door.

“Can I come in and talk anyway?”

His tone was so low, and sad, her heart begged her to say “yes.” But she chanted her mantra again.

“N-no…”

She watched his fingers tighten around the door.

“…Please?” he breathed.

She chanted so loudly in her head, but the part of her that wanted him broke through her resolve and took control of her movements, if only for a moment. She opened the door just a hare farther and stepped in view. She was sure she looked a mess, with her curls a tangled nest on her head and remnants of sleep still masking her face. But Damon’s dark eyes only looked upon her in awe. He took a step forward and her hold on the door tightened.

“No!” Damon froze.

“Y-You can’t come in…” she stuttered, keeping a death grip onto her resolve.

Damon’s calm demeanor evaporated into thin air and suddenly he was a ball of pure rage. He banged on the wall once with his fist, making a dent as the structure of her bedroom shook.

“Why can’t I just _talk_ to you?!”

He flung the door open and she was helpless against his strength. She shrieked softly as she stumbled backwards. He was instantly in her room, instantly in front of her, instantly in her face. Rather, her face was in his hands as he took it up and backed her into the nearest wall. Everything about him that drew her in was too close. She could barely hear her chant anymore. His scent was all around her, lingering in the air to intoxicate her lungs with each quickened breath she took in. His hands were against her bare skin, making soft and gentle swipes despite his eyes blazing in fury. His heady breaths were fanning over her parted lips, pushing the essence of his flavor into her mouth and making her head dizzy. His mouth was moving, but she couldn’t even hear the words anymore as her resolve dissolved and she was left fighting against the desire that every crevice of her body ached to relieve. His lips looked so, so soft—and kissable…

The familiar ring of silence snapped her from her daze when she realized Damon had completely stopped talking and was now looking at her with the same intensity that she was sure was blatant in her eyes. She blushed under his fervid gaze and his head dipped down. She reacted, tipping her head up on instinct. But a fragment of her resolve revealed itself.

“Don’t…” she whispered, and Damon’s lips stopped in place, practically ghosting hers.

Damon growled so lowly that it was almost inaudible.

“Why?” he breathed, intentionally ghosting his lips across hers.

Bonnie whimpered and forced every muscle in her body to stay still or else they would be kissing, and she would be back at square one.

“I c-can’t, Damon. It’s not s-safe. It’s—”

Damon abruptly lifted her into his arms, pressing his body against hers and effectively caging her between himself and the wall.

“No, it’s not safe. I’m not _safe_. But you don’t want safe—do you?” he hissed huskily, his face remaining too close for her comfort.

She tried everything to avoid his eyes, but they cornered hers at every aversion until she could do nothing but stare straight into them. Tears streamed down her face.

“I know I fucked up. I know, ok?! And I’m _sorry!_ I am! And I know I’m making things hard for you now, but I can’t just walk away from this.”

“Why _not?!_ Why can’t you just leave me alone?!” Bonnie cried, her voice thick with the tears that poured down her red cheeks.

“Because I know you still want me. You’re just trying to deny it—because you’re scared. And I get it, but—”

“I’m not scared! I want you to go away!” Bonnie attempted to dissuade him, beating her petite, balled up hands against his shoulders.

Damon ghosted his lips over hers once more and held them close so that they brushed against hers as he spoke.

“Then tell me you don’t want me—right now.”

Bonnie opened her mouth to say just that, but every speech bubble in her mind vanished at the feel of his lips fluttering teasingly against hers.

“…Tell me you didn’t sleep with the bear I got you last night.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened. But of course he had seen. How else would his note have gotten there?

A smirk played at one corner of Damon’s lips as he knocked down her walls inch by inch, “Tell me you weren’t holding the bear because it had my smell on it, because _I_ gave it to you…”

“Stop…” Bonnie breathed weakly as his forehead touched hers. His words were breaking down the dam that held all of her deepest desires.

“…Tell me you don’t dream of me…”

Another sob broke through Bonnie’s lips without warning, “I dream of you leaving me.”

A dagger dripping with the poison of his deepest regret plunged into his chest and Damon pulled back from her, slowly letting her feet drop back to the floor. The weight of his guilt bombarded him until he was submerged where he stood. Bonnie’s face fell into her hands as she wept, the sounds of it creating tiny fissures in his barely beating heart. He wiped the tear that fell down his cheek and took in an unsteady breath. Every wall he had broken down was right back up with reinforcements.

A sudden dizziness captured his head and the room spun. With a hand holding his head, he stumbled and dropped to his knees. Bonnie rushed to his side, kneeling beside him. It was then that she truly noticed how sickly he looked. His skin was ashier, paler than it normally was. His eyes were sunken in too.

“Damon! What’s wrong?” she questioned, desperate for the answer as she tried to take his face in her hands. She had never seen him like this.

The smell of her blood distracted every one of his senses, just like last night, as his ears trained in on the sound of her heartbeat, fast and hard. He should’ve just gone and fed last night, he chided to himself as he felt his face turn into its natural form.

Bonnie shied away slightly as he slowly lifted his head to hers. It wasn’t like the times they had blood shared. He had control then. This time reminded her of their first time, when he had attacked her, but even then—there was some control. Now? She didn’t see an ounce of his regular control left.

“Damon?” she asked softly, and she jumped as he bared the full length of his fangs.

“Damon…” she said unsurely, beginning to crawl backwards.

He crawled forward, stalking her like prey with his fangs exposed and ready to strike. Her sock covered foot slipped and she yelped as Damon hovered above her. She tried to roll out from underneath him, but his arm came down at her side. She was close to hyperventilating as the ravenous vampire suddenly took her wrists and pinned her to the floor, trapping her beneath him. She squirmed as much as she could to try to get free, but every movement was useless. She had to get her hands free somehow! It was the only way she knew how to save herself.

Looking frantically around the room, she settled on the only idea she had. Lifting her head from the floor, she bit his neck hard. Damon hissed and let go of on wrist to take a fistful of her hair. Acting as fast as humanly possible, she let him yank her head back by her hair and then slapped him hard across the face. Damon only budged slightly, caught off guard. But she watched him gain a little bit of himself back as he looked down at her in horror and shuffled off of her.

Bonnie was too busy trying to calm her racing heart and gasping for breaths to let him know that it was ok, she was ok…

“I-I can’t—I have to...” Damon muttered and sped off.

Bonnie found the energy to push herself from the floor and run to the door after him.

“Damon, wait!” she called down the hallway, but it was too late. He was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! It's so annoying that different fonts do not show up on these sites. I had a really cool font picked out for Damon's letter. Just envision fancy, cursive writing! Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I think I'll leave it there for tonight and post the rest within the week, but hopefully tomorrow if I manage to get free time. *fingers crossed*


	21. Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I am super sorry if anyone has been waiting ages to read the rest of this story on this platform. I actually really thought I had completed it on here. I feel so bad now! Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and complete it. Haha!! Thanks for any comments/likes/etc! :)  
> Also, sorry if its formatted differently or something. I can't recall how I was doing it the last time I posted. Lol!

He faltered halfway down the stairs to the basement, bracing himself with a hand against either side of the narrow walls. Meredith, peering down the open doorway curiously as she walked by, ran down the steps to try and steady him.

“Damon!” she shouted, concern evident in her tone.

“No!” Damon attempted to push her off.

“You can’t be here!” he warned.

Meredith ducked under his arm and walked a few steps down before spinning to look at his complexion. It was vampiric…and starving. But he looked so weak. Without a word she took off in the direction of the locker Stefan kept the blood bags in. Fumbling with the lock, she finally opened it with the nearby key and yanking the freezer’s top up. She grabbed the first pack she saw and then ran back over to Damon, just now reaching the bottom of the steps. She tossed him the blood bag and he ripped into it ravenously, drinking it down within seconds. It was right then, watching him drink so feverishly, that Meredith realized just how fast he and Stefan could kill a person from simple hunger.

Bile rose up in her throat and she swallowed the urge to vomit back down. His red eyes diluted until they were white once more, and his fangs retracted. Some of the color returned to his face, darkening his skin back to its normal, slightly sun-kissed appearance. But he still looked hungry.

“Here, let me get you another—”

“No!” he yelled, throwing the empty blood bag down as he leaned against the wall for support.

“Damon, you need more!” Meredith protested.

“I said, no!”

He wiped his mouth off in disgust, “I hate the taste of these damn things.”

“Well you can’t keep doing this to yourself. You have to drink som—”

“I almost hurt her…” Damon interrupted, speaking to himself.

“What?” Meredith asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.

The lost vampire covered his face with his hands in some sort of terrifying revelation.

“She’s never going to forgive me.” He muttered.

Meredith stared at him before it dawned on her what he meant, “Did you do something to Bonnie?”

“No!” Damon shouted, hating just the possibility of that accusation being attached to him.

His tone fell, “No. But I tried…”

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief and strode over to Damon’s side.

“If anyone can understand your vampire stuff, Damon—it’s her.”

Damon sighed long and hard through his nose as he looked down at his bloody fingertips.

“I’m not good for her, Meredith.”

Meredith stared on at him in disbelief. She never thought she’d see the day where he doubted himself this way.

“That’s—” she sighed, finding it hard to counter his statement, “It’s not true, Damon.”

Damon smirked just barely, a small amount of insanity leaking into the mask he wore to disguise his pain, “You know it’s true.”

She shook her head and took a step closer to him, “But it’s not. You—” she huffed, “well, yes! You can be damaging and self-sabotaging and all that crap, ok?! And it sucks! But you also make Bonnie happier than I’ve ever seen her! You make her smile and laugh and help her find her confidence. You give her strength.”

Damon scoffed and shook his head as she stared down at his dirtied fingertips, “I can also apparently prey on her like she’s no more than a source of food…”

Meredith sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. She fell back into the wall with a thump and leaned against it.

“So you slipped up! You were in a weak state and it was bad timing. Even _I_ can understand that!”

Damon turned solid obsidian orbs on her, “If she hadn’t have managed to get her wrist free from me and _slapped_ me—yes, Meredith, I _would’ve_ bit her. I might’ve even drained her…”

Meredith let her eyes fall to her feet, stretched out long and lean as they propped her against the cold cement of the cellar.

“I shouldn’t have come back here. I should’ve just stayed away. I should’ve left when—”

“Hey!” Meredith hollered, snapping him from his self-wallowing.

Pushing from the wall, she walked over to the dejected vampire and planted her feet firmly in front of him.

She stationed her hands firmly on her hips, “I will not have any of that kind of talk! It doesn’t matter what you should have done anymore, what matters it what you do from here on out. So you’re going to stop spouting nonsense, drink another blood bag, and go get your girl!”

Damon stared at her dubiously, remembering why he was unsettled by her presence so often. She was like a scary mom, and he still couldn’t decide if he was ok with it or not. Avoiding another lecture, he lifted his head up and straightened himself out, no longer leaning defeatedly against the wall.

He begrudgingly caught the blood bag that Meredith tossed like a football at his face and glowered at her strangely strong form. Sinking his fangs in, he scrunched his face up in detest as the bitter red sustenance dragged painfully slow over his tongue and lingered down his throat.

“Keep drinking!” Meredith commanded, watching how his face twisted in disdain.

Damon groaned irately and steeled himself against the abhorred taste. In two final gulps, he sucked every last drop from the thick, plastic bag. It hit the floor with a hard smack as he threw it pointedly at Meredith’s feet and wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand, smearing the blood across his forearm.

Meredith rolled her eyes at his theatrics but gave him a satisfactory grin. Picking up the empty blood bag, she reached up and gave a grumpy Damon a pleased pat on the head for a job well done. Damon slapped her hand away.

She huffed at him and pursed her lips, “Ok, grump! Now brush off the mistakes. You’ve learned from them, hmm?”

Damon rolled his eyes at her pep talk but nodded anyway.

“Then it’s time to move on from them and try again…tomorrow.” She added, giving him a quick wink before rushing back up the stairs.

Damon smirked to himself after her departure, feeling his strength return to him.

Bonnie cried into her hands as she sat down on the edge of her bed. An unexpected tapping at her door startled her and she shot her eyes up to meet Elena’s.

“Are you ok?” she asked, her thin brows concaved in concern.

A million snarky comments came to Bonnie’s mind, but she bit her tongue, too tired to make things into a fight. She simply shook her head.

“Can I, um, come in?” Elena asked as if she was expecting to be let down.

Bonnie studied her for a moment, noticing the sincere worry in her lapis gems and the way she seemed subtly desperate to talk. She nodded and watched Elena’s orbs glow a luminous aqua as she smiled brightly and quickly made her way into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Can I ask what happened?” the leggy blonde inquired mindfully.

Bonnie sniveled and Elena worried that might have overstepped her boundaries.

“But you don’t have to tell me. I know it’s not my place to ask, really. We can talk about something else if you want! Or not at all…” Elena rambled, trying to backtrack.

Wiping her tears, Bonnie picked at the skin around her nails and began warily, “D-Damon came to talk to me. He um…”

She trailed off, unsure of how much detail was appropriate. It was uneasy talking to Elena about these things, she wasn’t even sure where they stood.

Elena rushed forward and then halted, a frown pulling her lips downward, “It’s ok. You can talk about it. It’s—weird, but I don’t mind. I just want us to be able to talk again—like the old days.”

Bonnie was still unsure and she shifted uncomfortably.

“You don’t want to see me, do you?” Elena’s head dropped.

Bonnie sniffed, “It’s hard, Elena! You—” she snorted an exhausted breath and flung her hands, “You kissed him!”

Elena swallowed the ball in her throat threatening to choke her with inevitable sobs. She lunged forward and knelt in front of Bonnie, her jean clad knees skidding the floor.

“I know! I’m sorry, Bonnie! I’m so, so sorry! It was wrong and I wasn’t thinking!”

Bonnie shook her head in dismay.

“But that’s no excuse…” Elena sighed, trying to keep herself on topic without going on the defense.

Bonnie’s watery brown orbs met hers and Elena continued while she had her friend’s attention.

“I hurt you from my own selfish actions. I didn’t think about you or anyone and I should have. You never would have done the same to me. I should’ve been better—as a friend, as a person…”

She broke down in tears, “Oh Bonnie, will you ever forgive me?!”

Bonnie contemplated a moment, but the need to forgive the girl weeping at her feet pulled her down to the floor and she wrapped her arms around her oldest friend. Elena wasted no time in throwing her arms around Bonnie’s smaller frame in return, squeezing her best friend tight to her chest.

“I’m so sorry, Bonnie!” she cried, crystal droplets dripping into Bonnie’s bunch of curls wisping against her cheek.

“I’m sorry for everything I said to you! I’m sorry for everything I did! I’m sorry for being such a terrible friend! Please forgive me!” Elena bawled.

Bonnie pulled back from the golden-haired girl and wiped her eyes for the millionth time. She was sure she would dry up soon if these waterworks didn’t cease.

“I’m not mad at you, Elena. But I just need some time to heal from things, ok?”

Elena nodded sadly and brushed the wetness from her cheeks, “Ok…”

Bonnie put her hand on Elena’s arm, “But I’d be willing to start talking to you if you’re ok with listening.”

Elena perked up and a smile broke through her tears. She laughed gratefully and nodded with untamed eagerness, “Yes! I’ll listen!”

Bonnie giggled at her friend’s over-joyous response and brought them both up to sit on the edge of her bed so she could explain her current predicament.

They were halfway through their talk when a knock sounded softly on the door. The two girls’ heads whipped toward the door. Elena’s heart thundered with the possibility of Damon being on the other side. She couldn’t be here if it was him! Her mind went into pure panic as she searched it for escape plans. She couldn’t have Bonnie upset with her again…not when she just mended things!

On the other hand, Bonnie’s heart fluttered both hopefully and dreadfully at the thought of Damon standing on the other side of her bedroom door. She wanted to talk to him more than anything, see his face, feel his presence, but…Elena was here. And that fact made her stomach sick.

The knob twisted when neither girl made a move to answer the knock. They both held their breaths.

“Knock, knock…” Meredith said, sticking her head through the door.

She did a double take as her emerald gaze landed on Elena. Sitting next to Bonnie. Not crying. Not screaming. Calmly…

“Elena?” she questioned, perfectly arched brows furrowing.

Elena laughed softly, “Yeah, it’s me. I’m in here too.”

Meredith quickly stepped inside the room and shut the door behind her.

She crossed her arms over her chest, “Well this is unexpected.”

Bonnie shrugged, “We talked.”

Meredith looked quizzically back and forth between the two girls in seemingly “ok” moods.

“…and everything’s good?”

Elena rolled her eyes, but an amused smile stayed put on her lips, “Ok, I know I was a royal bitch, but it isn’t impossible for us to talk like civilized adults!”

Meredith held her hands up in surrender, “Hey, this is the first time I’ve seen you both in the same vicinity without loads of drama! Cut me some slack.”

Bonnie giggled and patted the empty space on the bed next to her. Meredith eagerly occupied the seat and stretched her long arms around both the girls, her fingertips clamped around Elena’s upper arms, and pulled them in for a long-awaited group hug. The three of them giggled giddily, just like old times.

When Meredith released her friends, she flipped her long, dark hair over her shoulder like a skillful model and relaxed back onto her elbows.

“So! What are we talking about?” she asked with a suggestive quirk of her brow.

Elena leaned her weight onto one arm and looked at Meredith from behind Bonnie, “How Damon completely screwed up his apology…”

“Yeah, how _did_ that go?” Meredith inquired, the little portion of olive skin between her well-groomed brows creasing.

Bonnie blushed beneath the intrusive gazes of her friends. She wanted to tell the entire truth, but Elena still didn’t know about the blood stuff, and she wasn’t too sure she would ever be ready to tell her about it either. But at the same time, confessing that Damon had tried to attack her would just cause a frenzy among her friends and make the situation so much worse than it already was. Elena had no tolerance for the tendencies of the vampire lifestyle, ironically enough, and she was sure Meredith might kick Damon’s ass into oblivion if she knew.

“He just—got antsy and ran out of the room…” Bonnie shrugged at Elena’s confused expression and then glanced over at a very unconvinced Meredith.

“I think I hurt him. I said something really mean.” She added, trying to make her fib a bit more believable.

Realization dawned on Elena’s face, easily taking Bonnie’s word as fact. But Meredith was not so gullible and remained analytical. Bonnie was sure she knew something more…

Luckily, the subject was dropped and normal girl-talk had resumed among the friendly trio. It seemed much needed as each girl relaxed and broke into tears laughing together at silly memories. Bonnie perked up from her floor where they were all spread out with their heads touching.

She turned excited eyes on the girls, “We need ice cream!”

“Yes!” Elena chirped, throwing her hands into the air above her head.

“I’m not going to get it!” Meredith quickly threw out, pointing a reprimanding finger at Bonnie.

The petite girl giggled and rose from the floor. Straightening out the folds in her sleep shorts, she said, “It’s fine. I’ll get it.”

Meredith mimicked Elena’s movements then, throwing her arms up in celebration, “It’s a miracle!”

Bonnie turned the doorknob, throwing her head over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at Meredith. She opened the door and took a step. Something hard blocked her from leaving the doorway as she slammed into a solid figure and stumbled backwards.

“Oof!” the little noise left her lips as she staggered and took a couple steps back to regain her footing.

Then, his image was clear as day as she steadied herself and stared up at him.

“Damon…” his name rolled off her stunned tongue.

“Um…” he began and then stopped as Elena and Meredith both popped up from the floor, blonde and brunette hair messy and knotted.

“What are you doing here?” Bonnie asked after giving her throat a bit of clearing.

“I wanted to talk.” He explained slowly, his mind trying to make sense of the crowd as his dark crystals flicked from the surprised red-head to the two nosey girls on the floor and back again.

Meredith gave him a little shake of her head from the other side of Bonnie’s bed.

Bonnie opened her mouth to respond but Damon was speaking again.

“But I see this is a bad time—”

“No!” Bonnie interjected, and instinctively grabbed for his hand.

Her cheeks burned but before she could pull her hand away, Damon grabbed it and held it in his, giving her his full attention.

“Can we go somewhere?”

Bonnie could hear the plea leaking into the depths of his tone and she knew she couldn’t let him walk away. She nodded.

Warily, as if she might change her mind at any second, Damon pulled her along as he took a backstep from the door frame. His eyes begged her to follow.

She stilled abruptly, recalling her friends in the room, and turned to acknowledge them.

“I’ll be right back.” She informed them and let Damon lead her out of the room, holding on tight to his hand.

The door clicked shut and Meredith sighed heavily. With a groan she shoved herself off the floor to her feet.

“I knew I’d have to go get the damn ice cream!” she grumbled, walking towards the door.

“Pistachio, please!” Elena called.

“Yeah, yeah…” Meredith waved her off as she swung the door shut behind her.


	22. Forgiveness

Bonnie’s heart thumped furiously as she entered Damon’s dimly lit room. Taking a breath, she felt a slight bit of comfort at the scent of him that hung onto every particle of oxygen around her.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Damon immediately apologized as he turned to face her.

A frown turned Bonnie’s lips down as the memory replayed in her head, “Have you not—”

“No.” Damon answered, already knowing the question.

“Why?”

Damon shrugged, “I haven’t exactly been thirsty.”

“Oh.” Bonnie’s mouth made a little circle and she hung her head.

“But Meredith made me drink a couple blood bags, so please don’t be afraid! I won’t hurt you!” Damon clarified hastily, scared of losing her.

Bonnie turned watery chocolate orbs up at him, “I’m not afraid of you.”

“Wait—Meredith?” she continued.

Damon sighed and shook his head, waving a nonchalant hand through the air, “Yeah, she found me after I—you know…”

“She helped you?” Bonnie asked, touched at the idea.

Damon tilted his head side to side, “More or less.”

Bonnie flashed a small smile but her expression quickly faded to worry.

“So she knows about what happened?”

“Yes.”

“Was she upset?” Bonnie’s eyes were perfect circles of concern.

Damon shook his head, “She just wanted to help. She’s been doing that a lot lately…”

Bonnie’s face softened and a heartwarming smile replaced her frown.

“She has?”

“Annoyingly so.” Damon admitted.

There was silence between them for a moment as Bonnie’s thoughts swirled with endearment and Damon carefully etched every detail of her face into his mind. Her brows suddenly pulled together and the cute smile brightening her face dropped.

“I’m sorry for not coming after you. I wanted to! But I—I just didn’t know what to do. My mind felt so torn and everything happened so fast!” Bonnie spoke up.

Damon’s thick brows pinched closer as he looked down at the girl apologizing to _him_ over a position _he_ had put her in.

“It’s my fault. I never should have put you at risk like that. I just wasn’t paying attention to the hunger enough. I should’ve been.” Damon berate himself aloud, much to Bonnie’s dismay.

She took up his hand in hers again, “It’s ok. _I’m_ ok.”

The room buzzed with blaring quietness once more and Bonnie dropped his hand to stare down at her shuffling feet.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” she questioned timidly.

“You’re still mad at me…” Damon spoke clearly, confidently. It wasn’t meant to be a question.

“…Yes.” Bonnie answered softly.

Damon’s stoic expression faltered just barely, revealing his inner turmoil.

“Will you ever not be…?” he rasped.

Bonnie shrugged, but in the back of her mind she knew the correct answer. That shield she had carefully constructed around herself kept her from spilling the right words from her mouth.

“So you can forgive Elena, but not me?”

Bonnie glared at him, “I never said I forgave her.”

“You’re just able to go back to normal with her because…? Is it some girl code I don’t know about?”

“I’m not back to normal! I’m _trying_ to be! It’s called a second chance!” Bonnie argued.

“So I don’t get the same treatment then?” Damon retorted, becoming heated.

“I’ve given you multiple chances, Damon! And every time you’ve gone back to Elena!”

Damon looked as if he’d just been slapped, a weird mix of anger and agony twisting his face. He dropped his gaze to the floor.

“So I’m out of chances then?”

When he heard no reply, he looked to her face to see her hands slapped over it.

“Is that what you’re saying?” his voice was calm, but cold as his heart slowly froze over as the chance of losing her grew exponentially. He braced himself for the storm that would stir within him at her disappearance.

“I don’t know!” Bonnie shouted, her voice muffled by her hands.

Damon watched her shoulders shake as she cried into her palms. The storm was eminent in his system and he wasn’t sure he would make it through this one. He hung in the balance of having everything and nothing left to lose all at once. Something in him snapped, and he took hold of her upper arms.

“I _can’t_ lose you!” he yelled, and his hands trailed softly down the length of her arms as he fell to his knees.

Bonnie stared down at him through blurred eyes, “Damon…”

“Please just—” he ground his teeth to keep his sorrows at bay, but tears managed to sneak passed his barriers, leaving visible tracks down his face, “don’t leave.”

Bonnie tore away from his grasp and turned her back to him, falling to shambles as she bawled into her hands.

“I-I can’t get—” she sucked in a sharp intake of breath, “get hurt a-again…”

Damon found the strength to stand, intent on fighting for the one thing he wanted most. He would give it all he had until it wasn’t enough. Four fingers curled around her upper arm and locked in place with the hook of his thumb. He spun her around and tore her hands from her overflowing mahogany pools.

“Then help me be better! Teach me how to make things right! Let me _try_!”

Damon cupped her face in his hands, drawing delicate circles in her cheeks with his thumbs, “I _need_ you. Don’t give up on me. Please…”

Bonnie clasped her fingers around his wrists and leaned into his hand as tears streamed down her face and clashed against his skin. Her thoughts drifted back to the night he had admitted his feelings for her, when he had hushed her from telling him she loves him.

“Then I want you to say it.” She spouted through shaky breaths.

Damon’s eyes searched hers frantically for the answer to her riddle, “What?”

Taking in the deepest breath she could into her frenzied lungs, she smashed her lips together as she looked deep into the black eyes desperate to keep her.

“Tell me you love me.”

Her breath held as his obsidian jewels flitted back and forth between her bronze ones. His face inched barely closer to hers, their noses nearly brushing. His eyelids dropped with his eyes, now focused on her parted lips. The dark aura about him turned heady and draped itself enticingly around Bonnie’s small frame. Her pounding pulse leapt into a sprint as his breaths mingled with hers.

“I love you…” he breathed huskily, letting his lips graze hers.

Bonnie whimpered and jumped onto her toes, smashing her lips against his. Damon moaned ferociously and slid his fingers back into her curls, relishing in the way they coiled around his fingers as if they worshipped his touch. Bonnie’s head spun as she gave into him, throwing her arms around his neck and yanking herself as close to him as she could get. Taking control of their kiss, Damon took a fistful of her curls and yanked her head back. His tongue dove deep into her mouth and massaged hers. He cradled the back of her head as he drove her into the door with a bang, rattling the door against its frame.

Bonnie practically clawed his chest as she tried feverishly to lift herself into his arms. Damon greedily scooped her up and secured her against him, impatiently wrapping her legs around his waist as he latched his mouth to her throat with sloppy kisses and harmless bites. Awarding Damon a very pleased moan, Bonnie let her head fall sideways to grant him full access to the sensitive skin there. He trailed his tongue softly along her neck, lighting her nerves on fire. His teeth dragged along her collarbone, and her thighs tightened around his narrow waist.

Growling possessively, Damon spun them around and flung the fiery red-head down onto his bed. He caged her beneath him and their mouths battled for dominance as they sucked and nipped at one another’s swollen, pink lips. Her fingers combed through his hair, sending shudders down to his toes, and Damon dragged a commanding hand down her body, demanding a reaction. Her hips rolled against his as she arched into him and moaned into his mouth.

Pushing off from the bed, Damon knelt back on his legs, smirking at the sight of Bonnie’s flushed skin and how her legs remained locked around him. Crossing his arms, he took two handfuls of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head in one fluid motion. Bonnie nearly drooled at the way his taught muscles rolled deliciously beneath his flawless skin. Every abdominal muscle was carved too perfectly until they faded at the V of his hips, which disappeared tantalizingly beneath the waistband of his joggers hung too low. Every muscle in his arms flexed as they caught his weight at either side of her head. His heavy-lidded eyes bore into hers, and she felt his fingertips brush her stomach beneath her loose-fitted pajama top.

“Do you want this?” he breathed.

Practically panting, Bonnie nodded furiously and helped Damon take her top off. He tossed it to the floor and gave her bare breasts a nice massage before touching his chest to hers. Bonnie moaned loudly and Damon muffled her with his lips, smirking against her mouth. Feeling his lips curling up, Bonnie couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. She giggled into their kiss, feeling the low vibrations of Damon’s chuckle as she did so.

In the next moment, Damon had both their pants discarded onto the floor and he was pounding into her, rattling the bed against the wall. Bonnie locked her ankles around him, scraping and scratching along his body as he brought her closer and closer to the brink of ecstasy.

Meredith and Elena sat in Bonnie’s room, scraping out the remnants of their ice creams from the bottoms of the wax-paper pints. Scooping the last bites into their mouths, Elena set her pint down with the spoon resting inside. She tapped on her crossed legs impatiently and looked back at the bedroom door.

“You think she’s ok?”

Meredith looked over her shoulder at the clock on Bonnie’s dresser. It was approaching an hour since they had seen Bonnie walk off with Damon. Meredith untwisted her body and sighed, recalling Damon’s slip up from he and Bonnie’s prior talk. What if he had done something to her? But no, he wouldn’t have…right? He had two bags of blood in him. That should’ve held him over enough to not go completely animalistic on her. Still, the possibility bugged her more than she liked.

“I mean, I think so…” she said unsurely.

The two girls shifted anxiously and stared at one another until Meredith shot up from the floor.

“I’m gonna go check on her!”

Elena let out the breath she had been unknowingly holding and fell back down against the floor. She pulled out her cellphone to text Stefan.

“Please do!” she called gratefully after Meredith.

Tip-toeing towards Damon’s room, she tried to peer under the door to see if she could notice their shadows. The room wasn’t very well lit though and Meredith let out a frustrated sigh as she relaxed her squinted eyes and padded closer. As she waded further down the hallway, a noise caught her ears—banging.

Her eyes went wide, “Oh, Bonnie…” she whispered to herself as she rushed down the hall.

She slowed her footsteps as she realized the banging had a pattern and no variation of pitch. A muffled girl’s voice barely reached her ears and Meredith craned her head out just slightly further to hear better.

“Fuck!” she heard Damon exclaim and his voice sounded strangled, but not in pain—in…

Meredith’s eyes bulged and she slapped a hand over her mouth to quiet the snort of laughter that threatened to burst from her lips. She was so glad she had encouraged Matt to take out that girl from his Spring semester college class that liked him from high school.

Bonnie’s muted screams rung faintly in Meredith’s ears and the brunette rolled her eyes before rushing back to her—occupied friend’s room. She slipped back into the door and Elena looked at her expectantly, propping herself up on a single elbow.

“Is she ok?” Elena asked innocently.

Meredith couldn’t help but let a laugh slip, “She’s more than ok…”

“Oh good!” Elena chirped and continued texting.

Meredith stared at her dubiously when Elena suddenly froze mid-text and turned wide eyes on her.

“Oh!” the blonde reiterated in a much more serious tone.

Bonnie straddled Damon as he guided her hips up and down. Her eyes fell to his mouth, lips painted in fresh crimson as a trail of blood leaked from the corner. Slowing their movements, Damon wound his fingers around the back of her neck and brought her mouth to his. Parting their lips, Bonnie quickly swallowed the warmth of his blood as it poured into her mouth and washed over her pearly white teeth. Kissing for a moment longer, Damon ripped his lips from hers and let his fangs sink into her throat. He pushed his punctured wrist to her lips and let her suck as he savored the sweetness of her life essence.

Blood spilled and splattered all over his silvery bed sheets as they drank and writhed in the pleasure building up in every single cell in their bodies. Damon flipped her over, reclaiming dominance in their lovemaking as the blood from her neck seeped out and soaked into the bed. Streaks of the cherry-colored liquid trailed their bodies, slippery and smeared in places while becoming tacky in others. He thrust into her until he climaxed, and she followed him into euphoria, screaming into his bleeding wrist as she rode out the pleasure for the second time that night.

Falling back into old routines, Damon sealed up their wounds and then fell onto his back beside her. Taking up her sullied, lazy limbs, he pulled her against his chest and tilted her chin up for one more searing kiss.

“I love you,” Bonnie breathed just as his lips broke from hers.

Damon smiled and pulled her fingers up to his lips, kissing them one by one, “As I love you...”

Bonnie raised her hooked pinky up to him.

“Promise not to break my heart again?” she asked a little breathlessly, still attempting to catch it.

Damon instantly looped his pinky around hers and kissed it for extra measure, “Promise. I’m never letting you go, Miss McCullough.”

“Mmm, good.” Bonnie replied sleepily, snuggling into his chest with a smile plastered on her lips.

Damon twirled his fingers lazily through her hair until he heard a tiny snore and for the first time in days, he fell peacefully asleep and stayed that way until morning.

Elena awoke to the warm sun peering through Bonnie’s window. The rays shined right in her eyes and she groaned and stretched along Bonnie’s fluffy bed. Bringing her arms down, she knocked her elbow against something hard. The girl beside her groaned loudly and rolled over.

“Ow…” complained a groggy Meredith, holding her shoulder.

Elena let out a short laugh, forgetting that she had fallen asleep beside Meredith last night as they talked through her feelings about Damon and Bonnie. After unlocking Elena’s suppressed emotions, the blonde had cried, admitting how the acceptance was hard but that she was happy for Bonnie nonetheless. She hadn’t regretted that she chose Stefan. She was happy with him, happier than she would have been with Damon. Her anger had come more from a place of fear than jealousy. She was scared of losing Damon, of losing his presence in her life, of losing her opportunity. Ultimately, she wanted this relationship to flourish, for Damon’s sake as much as for her best friend’s.

“Sorry.” She mumbled and hopped up from the bed as she heard Meredith’s snores begin again.

She began stretched her arms up over her head and elongated her torso. The loud creaking of a door opening from down the hall travelled to Elena’s small ears. She let her arms drop and hastily tip-toed to the door. Pressing her ear to the crack, she listened closely to the sound of a door shutting and manly footsteps walking down the hall. She distanced herself from the door as the footsteps waltzed by and then hit the stairs. They were _his_ footsteps, she was sure of it. Which meant that Bonnie was alone, and she would be the first to hear details this time instead of Meredith.

She perked up with a giddy smile as she snuck from the room in an attempt not to wake Meredith and headed down the hall to Damon’s room and tapped her knuckles softly to the door as she twisted the doorknob with the other hand. Creaking the door open, she slipped inside the room and turned to gush with her best friend.

The smile dropped from her face instantly at the sight that perforated her vision.

“Oh…my…God…” she slowly rose her cupped hands to her mouth, her eyes nearly falling from their sockets.

Not only was Damon still in the bed with a naked Bonnie curled up on his chest, but the sheets, the pillows, and the mattress was coated with dark red and brown puddles of dried-up blood.

Damon’s eyes fluttered open and his arms immediately tightened around Bonnie before his gaze landed on Elena. They shot open wide then and he yanked the sheets over Bonnie’s nude form.

“Elena, what are you—” his irritated tone began, and then he followed her line of sight, which wasn’t even on him but darting around the bed to all the bloody stains.

“Elena…” he called, trying to get her attention before she screamed, or passed out. He wasn’t positive which was going to come first.

Bonnie stirred against him and he groaned low in his chest, having to deal with two panicked women wasn’t in his morning plans. The red-headed girl lying on top of him gasped and scrambled upwards, knowing exactly what Elena was thinking.

“Elena!” she yelled in a quiet voice filled with guilt.

Damon took hold of her arm as she straddled him, holding the soiled sheets over her bare, bloody body. Bonnie turned her saucer eyes on him and he could see her pulse pounding beneath the skin at her throat. He rubbed her arm soothingly, trying his best to calm her and let her know she wasn’t alone in this.

Looking into his reassuring eyes, she nodded just enough for him to notice and relaxed slightly.

“What—” Elena cut herself off with her own gasp as she covered her mouth in astonishment.

“Elena, let’s just talk, ok?” Damon suggested in calm tones.

Moving her hands up over her eyes, she shook her head hard as if trying to clear the image from her mind, or to wrap her mind around it. Neither seemed to be working as she moaned as if in pain, long blonde strands twisting from side to side with the shakes of her head.

Then she ripped her hands from her lapis jewels, and Bonnie almost jumped at the sudden fury swirling there.

“Oh we’re _going_ to talk!”

She pointed a shaky finger at the red-stained, disheveled couple, shifting it between them.

“You two—clean up! Then we’re _talking!_ Downstairs!” she yelled, trying to avert her gaze from them and the bed.

With an appalled huff, she spun on her heel and stomped from the room muttering to herself, “What the hell?!”

Bonnie let out a long sigh as her body slumped and she looked down at Damon. Her brows knitted together as she saw an unexpected smirk lying across his lips.

“Wanna have sex?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow as he thrust his hips up against her.

Bonnie blushed as she felt him growing between her legs. Letting a small giggle pass her lips, she rolled off him and then leaned over to kiss him hard.

“Later.” She told him as he gave her a playful pout.

She shoved him lightly, “Come on!”

She hopped out of the bed.

“I’m trying to, but you won’t let me ha—”

Bonnie chucked a pillow at his face, blushing furiously at his innuendo, “Stop!”

Damon’s sultry chuckle rattle in her eardrums as he stood from the bed and walked into his bathroom. He shot a look back to her over his shoulder and held out his hand.

“Well we have to shower, don’t we?” he gestured down his body, tinted red and brown like it was a second skin.

But Bonnie’s eyes landed on something else very distracting. Damon caught her dazed stare and smirked harder.

“Quickie?” Bonnie asked bashfully.

Damon smiled wickedly and nodded toward the bathroom, his eyes never leaving her body. Bonnie’s smile grew across her lips involuntarily, and she bit her bottom lip as she skipped cutely passed Damon and grabbed his wrist for him to follow. Without a single bit of hesitation, he followed her into his steaming shower and wrapped her around him. Bonnie attacked his mouth with her own as he began to thrust into her, letting the water wash them of the past night’s sins while they unabashedly bathed in impish activities.


	23. Titles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, this is the end. Thanks a bunch for reading!

Damon waited outside her room, lounging against the wall while she walked into her room wearing his shirt. He slapped her bottom, admiring its small jiggle as the red-head yelped and shot him a playful glare over her shoulder.

As soon as she closed the door she almost screamed as turned to see Meredith standing in her room, having halted in making her bed. The long-legged brunette gave her a suggestive smile, having seen her and Damon’s flirtatious interactions.

“Have fun with Damon?” she quipped, looking over the petite girl swallowed in Damon’s black t-shirt.

Bonnie, one hand over her chest, felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks, “Maybe…”

Meredith snorted amusedly as she fixed Damon’s teddy bear cutely onto Bonnie’s bed.

“Sounded like a lot more than a maybe last night…”

Bonnie’s eyes went wide. Meredith glanced over at her and then straightened herself up, standing tall as she leaned her weight onto one foot and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I came to make sure Damon hadn’t attacked you, and well, it sounded like you were having a pretty good time. You never told me you were a screamer!” Meredith teased.

Bonnie threw her hands over her face and groaned, “Oh my God!”

Meredith’s high-pitched laugh rang around the room—almost maniacally.

“Oh, lighten up. I’m not judging. You and Damon are hot together!” she winked at the embarrassed red-head.

Bonnie dropped her hands from her face, remembering her mission, and began to gather a quick outfit.

“Glad you think so. Elena will probably have him hanged after what happened this morning.” She clued her friend in.

Meredith’s laughter vanished, a serious aura overtaking her demeanor, “What do you mean?”

Bonnie didn’t have to answer when Meredith’s eyes widened in realization and she spoke again.

“Ohhhh! Oh no!” she rushed over to Bonnie and hugged her, “She walked in on you guys!”

She released Bonnie from her hold and held her at arm’s length, “And she got upset again?”

A look of conflict masked Bonnie’s features as she contemplated how to explain. It wasn’t like Meredith was fond of the blood thing they did either.

“It wasn’t really _that_ —it was more the, um, blood, I think…”

Bonnie hung her head shamefully as she peaked up at Meredith’s reaction beneath long lashes.

Meredith let her hands fall from Bonnie, “Wow! So you guys really went for it last night, huh?”

Bonnie’s porcelain skin went bright red.

“She wants to talk to me and Damon.” She muttered.

The brunette girl pulled her back in for a tight hug, “Things will calm down. I’m sure Elena is just overwhelmed. That’s a lot to walk in on for anyone, let alone someone who cares about you.”

Bonnie nodded.

Giving her one last squeeze of reassurance, Meredith stepped back, “I’m here for you if you need me.”

Bonnie hugged her friend one last time, and then threw on some high-waisted bike shorts and knotted Damon’s top at one side. She brushed her hair and ran out of the door. Meredith watched as Damon appraised his girl with a smirk, clearing enjoying how she wore his clothes. He threw his arm around her shoulders, tugging her into his side. Bonnie nuzzled there, one slender arm circled around his back.

“I’m _not_ helping you clean the blood off the bed!” Meredith sneered at Damon.

Damon threw a cocky half-smile at her over Bonnie’s head of curls, “The blood is the least of the problems. You should see the mess this one ma—”

“Damon!” Bonnie shouted incredulously.

Damon laughed as he led Bonnie down the stairs and Meredith was left to digest what he had said. Even _she_ hadn’t expected that response!

Managing not to hold Elena up long enough to be suspicious, Damon walked into the living room with Bonnie’s hand entwined in his. He groaned audibly, turning his head to the ceiling as he saw Stefan standing beside Elena, the couple looking like disappointed parents ready to scold their misbehaving children.

Damon sighed loudly and rolled his eyes as he plopped down onto the couch. Grabbing Bonnie by the hips, he guided her down on top of him, settling her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she leaned back against his chest. Her hand slid into his and he eagerly tangled their fingers and gave her hand a supportive squeeze.

 _I’m right here_ , he sent to her through their inaudible connection.

Damon turned narrowed eyes on Stefan, a cocky smirk plastered across his face. He challenged his brother to say something, _anything_ to piss him off. Bonnie was his and there was absolutely nothing Stefan could say to keep her from him. It just wasn’t going to happen…

“Elena told me what happened.” Stefan began.

“Care to explain why your bed was _drenched_ in my best friend’s _blood?!_ ” Elena skipped Stefan’s nice intro and jumped straight into an accusatory tone.

Bonnie looked at Damon, who glanced at her before looking to his brother, who had a suspicion on his face already. Inhaling deep, the oldest Salvatore brother confessed to his crimes.

“I feed from her, and she drinks from me,” Damon twirled his fingers through Bonnie’s ringlets idly, “it’s a nice give and take.”

Elena’s eyes bulged and Stefan let his head drop as he sighed long and hard. The blonde beauty turned to Stefan in confusion.

“What? Did you know about this?!” she questioned his reaction.

Stefan shook his head and then pinched the bridge of his nose, “Damon, do you have any idea how dangerous that is for humans?”

Damon rolled his eyes, “It’s dangerous if they die. Otherwise…” he turned his seductive irises on the girl in his lap and she was instantly lost in their darkness, “it just makes them feel really good. Doesn’t it?”

Elena bit her lip as she looked between the touchy couple and Stefan. Stefan had let her drink his blood before—quite a few times actually. And he had taken hers. Just never at the same time. Except for once, for a second. It had just been bad timing, and Stefan had pulled away almost as soon as it had happened. But Elena could remember the rush of pleasure that washed through her like a tidal wave…it had been so fleeting.

Stefan sighed, and rose his voice, “That’s not the point, Damon! If something were to happen to her—”

Damon rolled his head back on the couch exasperatedly, “Then I get her for eternity! How terrible…”

Stefan furrowed his brows, astonished by his brother’s absolutely inconsiderate words.

“How could you say that?! You’d wish such a thing on the girl you love?!”

“Yes, Stefan! Because unlike you, I’m not afraid to be selfish. I love her and I want her by my side forever. There’s only one way to make that happen.” Damon spat the chilling truth that Stefan could never seem to.

Bonnie’s mind drifted, picturing her future with Damon. Of course she had thought about it before. If she were going to be with him forever, that would mean becoming a vampire within the next few years before she became too old for him. Thinking of herself as such an undead creature scared the life right out of her, ironically enough. Yet, there was something about it that intrigued her more than it should. Being a vampire at Damon’s side—something about it was so appealing. She already drank his blood anyway; only, when she became a vampire, they could blood share without her having to drink from him to stay alive. And she would feel pleasure from _just_ that bite, without sharing. Then _she_ could bite _him._ The mere thought of it pushed a million butterflies through her stomach.

“And have you even bothered to ask Bonnie if she wants this?” Stefan inquired, gesturing to the dazed girl, lost in all her thoughts of the future.

Bonnie, startled from her mind at the sound of her name, turned to Damon, whose eyes bore into hers intensely.

“We haven’t talked about it. But it’s not happening anytime soon. And besides, she’ll want it when the time comes…” his voice trailed off as one corner of his lips turned up knowingly.

“Bonnie, is this true? Would you want to be what Damon is?” Elena asked, concern reeling in her deep blue pools.

Never breaking eye contact with Damon she answered confidently, surprising even herself.

“I want to be with him. So yes, I would do it,” she took up his hand in hers again, “it might be scary, but I’d rather that than have to give him up because I’m too old. I’m not stupid. I know what he is and what it means for a human to be with a vampire. It’s not really possible unless I’m willing to make sacrifices. Haven’t _you_ thought about this before, Elena?”

With the question suddenly turned on the unsuspecting blonde, she faltered, unsure of what to say. The right words couldn’t seem to make it to her mouth. Sure, she and Stefan had discussed it, and she was aware of the impending decision she would have to make, but she could never fully say being a vampire is what she _wanted_. It was more like her humanity was a sacrifice she would have to make for Stefan. But that was a steep price to pay, even for love…

“I mean, yes, I have. But—”

“I would never make her choose this life.” Stefan cut in, giving Elena a wholehearted smile.

Damon shrugged, “Then you’ll lose her.”

Stefan shot a glare at his nonchalant brother. How could he take such a serious topic so lightly?!

“Look little brother, you can be upset all you want, but fact is fact and I’m not afraid to admit what I want. So the choice for me is simple. I would never force Bonnie into this, but I sure as _hell_ wouldn’t just let her choose humanity without putting up a fight. You can call me selfish or inconsiderate or terrible, but don’t hate me for accepting what you can’t. I’m just choosing not to let her go.” Damon stated, earning a conflicted stare from Stefan and a sad one from Elena.

Stefan sucked in a long breath and opened his mouth, ready to respond. Elena’s hand came up to his chest, flat and gentle over his bicep. He faltered and looked to her; she shook her head gently. Stefan let out the breath he inhaled with a long-winded sigh and turned back to the united-couple lounging on the couch.

“Are we done here?” Damon asked with a raise of his brows.

Stefan, conflicted between letting Damon hear it and obeying his girlfriend’s wishes, reluctantly dropped the conversation and nodded.

“Yeah, I guess.” He retorted defeatedly.

“Fantastic!” Damon exclaimed and Bonnie hopped off his lap as he stood up behind her.

“Damon.” Elena called.

His coal eyes looked into her deep blue depths, expecting some sort of dramatic statement that he would then have to defend, or combat.

“Take care of her.” The pale blonde girl offered, giving him a small smile as Stefan circled his arm around her shoulders possessively and pulled her close into his side.

A small smile lifted the corners of Damon’s lips and he nodded gratefully at her before taking Bonnie’s small hand in his and letting her lead him from the living room.

Stefan turned to Elena, “You’re really ok with this?”

Elena shrugged, “No, but if I know Damon at all, I know he’ll keep her safe. So, I trust him.”

Stefan sighed but let go of his anger of the situation, and his jealousy over Elena’s attachment to his brother. She had chosen him, and his priority was paving a future for them, whatever that future may hold.

With that as a focus, Stefan nodded at Elena, choosing to trust her, and pulled her into his chest for a long hug. She moaned contently as she breathed him in and let her head rest just beneath his chin. They stayed like that for a moment, just relishing in one another’s presence, letting their heightened emotions calm as they melted into each other. Until Elena pulled back just slightly to look up at Stefan’s beautiful green orbs. His thick brows furrowed.

“So…what is blood sharing like?” she asked shyly, interest piqued.

Stefan was baffled as he stared down at her with widened eyes, “Um…”

Heading towards the stairs, Matt walked towards the front door, interrupting Bonnie’s giddy mood. Matt’s baby blue eyes landed on Bonnie’s hand, nestled firmly in Damon’s as he stepped unlocked the front door of the house. He stiffened, feeling awkward and unsure as he gave the couple a friendly smile and let his hand drop from the door’s locks.

“Hi Matt.” Bonnie greeted softly. Damon’s hand squeezed tighter around hers.

“Hi.” He returned, scratching the back of his head.

Damon stood confidently at his girl’s side, eyes narrowed in scrutiny as he looked over Matt and was surprised to find deep red love bites along the side of his neck. A mischievous smile spread across his lips.

He gestured to Matt’s neck with his free hand, “You have fun last night, Mutt?”

Bonnie looked up confusedly at Damon and then back to Matt, who had a prominent blush coloring his cheeks. She squinted, trying to see what Damon was gesturing at, but came up blank.

Matt rubbed at his neck, “Um, I was actually on my way to meet her for lunch…”

Bonnie’s eyes widened and she smiled brightly, “You were on a date?! With who?!”

“Suzie Greenwell.” Matt mumbled, knowing full well what Bonnie’s reaction would be.

“Sicky Suzie?! You went out with her?!” Bonnie uttered in pure shock.

Last time she had seen Suzie, she was a very nerdy girl with braces and few social skills. People had given her that nickname in the early days of high school because she had many allergies and had projectile-sneezed snot into the back of Meredith’s hair one day. Bonnie had been very grossed out, as had many of the kids in the lunch room that day, but Meredith, being the amazing woman she is, had calmly cleaned herself up and repeatedly told Suzie not to worry about it. Suzie, however never spoke to any of them again. She assumed the girl had been too embarrassed to hang around them after that incident.

More color poured into Matt’s cheeks as Damon looked down at Bonnie, brows pulling together in amusement, “Who?”

“She’s takes allergy medicine now, ok?! And we had a class together last semester.” he defended, feeling an inch tall as he stood under a microscope.

“I’m not judging.” Bonnie corrected, “I’m just surprised is all. I never thought you had any interest in her.”

“Well, Meredith pushed me to go out with her actually and we just…clicked.”

Damon snorted a laugh, “Clearly.”

Matt shot him a glare, but Bonnie just smiled wholeheartedly at her best guy friend.

“I’m happy for you, Matt.” She told him sweetly.

Matt’s glaring eyes softened as they turned on Bonnie. He offered her a small smile in silent thanks before gesturing to her and Damon’s interlocked hands, “I see you two made up?”

Bonnie blushed and tucked her curls behind her ear. Damon smirked and tugged her closer.

“So, are you guys dating now or what?” Matt asked, unsure of how to feel about it.

Damon waited for Bonnie’s response, curious to hear what she’d say.

Nerves wracked her small form, not because of Matt’s feelings, but because of Damon’s. They hadn’t gotten a chance to talk about this yet, and she didn’t want to scare him off. But then, a thought replayed in her head. His words to her, how much he had done to get her back, the love he showed her. A small boost of confidence filled her core and she spoke up.

“Yes.” She looked up to Damon, gauging his reaction, “He’s my boyfriend.”

Damon’s eyes seemed to melt as they stared down into hers, and tingles spread through her limbs as she took her lower lip between her teeth.

Matt didn’t grumble nor did he smile. He simply seemed to have expected as much as he let out a small sighed and looked to Damon.

“Just do me a favor…”

Damon steeled himself, bracing for an argument.

“Don’t ever eat her waffles.”

The stiff vampire relaxed a bit and chuckled, “Vampire, Matt. I don’t want waffles.”

Matt pointed a finger at him, “You heard what I said!”

Then he opened the door and left, smiling to himself as he reminisced about his night with Suzie.

Damon shook his head and started to walk forward, but Bonnie remained glued in place. He looked back at her, his inky eyes questioning her frozen state.

A sudden mischief swirled in Bonnie’s brown orbs as she looked to him, “Did you just call him Matt?”

Damon thought back for a moment and almost smacked himself as he realized the slip up. God! Now Mutt would never let him live it down! Maybe he hadn’t noticed though, his hormones too hopped up on whatever he and Suzie had done. But the chatty little bird at his side had heard, and yeah, that would be a problem. This was definitely going to come back to haunt him…

He groaned with a hard roll of his eyes, “Come on!”

He tugged Bonnie along as she laughed at him almost all the way to her room. Stepping inside, he was satisfied to see Puffers in the corner while his yet unnamed bear was neatly sitting on her bed, roses twisted around the bed posts.

Bonnie flopped down onto the bed, barely making it sink in. Damon chuckled at her as he watched her snatch the bear from above her and hug it tightly in her arms.

“So what’s his name?” he asked, plopping down beside her on his back.

“Wafers.” She answered.

Damon rolled to his side, propping his head up on his hand and staring at her.

“Wafers?”

“Yes! Because he looks like the color of vanilla and it reminded me of the cookie. He’s also chubby and he looks like he’d eat a lot of them! So…Wafers!” she defended her name.

Damon laughed, throwing an arm around her and pulling her close, “I like the name, Redbird.”

Bonnie smiled up at him, but then a sadness painted her features as she looked down at Wafers lying on her chest.

“What is it?” Damon inquired, running his fingers through her hair.

“I just—I didn’t really know what to say when Matt asked if we were dating. I mean, we haven’t talked about it and it’s not like you’ve asked me to be yo—”

Damon cut her off as he jumped to his feet and yanked her upright. Kneeling before her on one knee, he took her small hand in his, grabbing one of the plush roses from her bed post in the other. He held it up in front of him and playfully cleared his throat.

“Miss Bonnie McCullough…”

He paused watching a beautiful smile bloom on her rosebud lips, “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Without a hitch, Bonnie leapt from the bed and jumped into his arms. Damon caught her and twirled them around, laying her giggling form gently onto the floor as he hovered over her.

“Yes!” she said in the most cheerful voice Damon had ever heard from her.

Unable to erase the smirk from his mouth, the older Salvatore leaned down and captured her lips in his, kissing her breathless. Right then he was positive, right then there was no doubt in his mind, that she was permanently his and he was never leaving her side. It had been over a month since it happened. That one week where everything between them had changed. That one fateful week where he since will _never_ be able to get enough…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy the new Bamon story I'm working on, which I mayyy post tonight. We'll see... ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I can't wait to post the next chapter. Should I post some of my older stories on here?


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